Edition: English | 中文简体 | 中文繁体 Монгол
Homepage > China Video

PM Tsipras advocates further maritime cooperation with China

CCTV.com

07-05-2016 04:58 BJT

Full coverage: Belt and Road Initiative

The Greek prime minister spoke to CCTV about increasing cooperation with China, driven by the Belt and Road Initiative. 

"Indeed I am visiting Beijing and Shanghai right after the completion of this important agreement, a mutually profitable one, that signals the involvement of the Chinese company COSCO in Piraeus Port. Hereafter, Piraeus Port is being elevated to an international transportation gateway. The Greek government intends this to be the beginning of a strategic and multi-level collaboration between Greece and China. After Piraeus Port, our next goal is to strengthen railway construction all the way to our northern borders, with a view to rapidly transferring merchandise from the port to Budapest, and Central Europe in general."

"At the same time, Thriasio Pedio, an area right next to Piraeus, can be used as an important logistics center. This area has attracted the interest of other Chinese companies and has the infrastructure to be transformed into an assembly center for products arriving from China and destined for Central Europe. There is also the view in the near future, to collaborate in other sectors such as air transportation (with the example of the investment possibilities in the Kastelio airport in Crete) as well as in maritime transportation, an area in which both our countries were, and still are, internationally standing at the top."

"We're specifically interested in investments from Chinese in Greek shipyards which will be used by Chinese ships for repairs. We're also interested in the possibility to include Chinese companies as possible investors in other ports that will result in mutual profit, and with a common goal to enhance economic growth and common activities. To sum up, in the commercial sector, this is the beginning of a multitude of important collaborations between the two countries. Also, the fact that I'm coming here immediately after the successful completion of the agreement with COSCO can be fertile ground for the growth of all the multi-level possibilities for cooperation between the two countries."

Follow us on

  • Please scan the QR Code to follow us on Instagram

  • Please scan the QR Code to follow us on Wechat