Greece’s deal with Chinese shipping giant COSCO is “helping the country stand on its feet,” Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said.
“We are sending a strong message to the international markets that Greece is decisively entering a new phase,” Tsipras said.
According to a report in Xinhua, China and Greece have great hopes for Piraeus port, as attested to by the meeting of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras on Monday.
Li met with Tsipras in Beijing on Monday afternoon, with much of their meeting focused on Piraeus.
COSCO and the Greek state privatization authority TAIPED officially signed an agreement for the sale of a majority stake in the Port of Piraeus (OLP).
According to the 368.5 million euro deal between COSCO and Greece’s privatization agency TAIPED, the Chinese company is to buy 51 percent of Piraeus Port Authority (OLP) for 280.5 million, with a further 16 percent for 88 million after a five year period.
It is also contingent on COSCO completing investments worth 350 million euros over the next decade.
Piraeus is one of the largest ports in Greece. In 2015, the global ranking of Piraeus Port increased significantly from 93rd to 39th place in terms of container capacity. This deal took 7 years to seal and is considered as a multi-win for China, Greece and Europe.
"The agreement with Cosco is only the head of the dragon. The hands, the feet and the body will follow" said Chinese ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli.
The Chinese envoy underlined that "the importance of Cosco project for Piraeus port does not only refer to the Greek-Chinese cooperation in the port but is also a symbol of mutual trust and China's confidence in the Greek market".