The mainland once spent 4 billion yuan to invest in a "dilapidated" port in Greece, but now US politicians are using this incident to smear us, spreading the so-called "theory of the threat of China's investment in global ports," and making up our investment in this "dilapidated overseas" as "providing support for the mainland's navy," which is threatening.
What is the name of this "run-down" port in Greece, which was invested by the mainland? Why does the mainland want it? Why is the United States holding on to this matter?
"Run-down" port
The port that the mainland took in Greece was called "Port of Piraeus", and in Greek, "Piraeus" means "the place where the passage is guarded".
The "Port of Piraeus" is strategically located to connect Europe, Africa and Asia, and is a particularly important Russian port and naval base in Greece, one of the top ten container terminals in Europe and one of the top ten cargo ports in the world.
With such an important port in Greece, how could foreigners be allowed to invest?
Greece's economic development has long been at a medium level, with a relatively weak economic base, mainly supported by shipping and agriculture. In June 2005, a sudden and large-scale strike broke out in Greece, causing shipping companies calling at the port of Piraeus to divert routes, causing the port of Piraeus to lose a large number of orders.
In 2008, when the financial crisis swept the world, Greece's already unstable economy was once again embroiled in an "economic turmoil", and the Greek government was in a difficult financial situation, with Greece's fiscal deficit and debt ratio exceeding the European Union's regulatory ceilings.
In 2009, Greece was also downgraded by the world's three major credit rating agencies, triggering a direct debt crisis in Greece.
In order to alleviate the economic pressure at home, the Greek government proposed to "sell" some of the operating rights of the port, including the port of Piraeus. Greece invited tenders for the terminal in the port of Raeus, and the winning bidder was awarded a 35-year concession.
In this global economic storm, the continental economy is like a big ship moving forward steadily, less affected, and having extra spare money on hand can help countries in difficulty, such as the United States and Greece.
In June 2008, COSCO Group successfully won the bid and won the 35-year concession of the No. 2 and No. 3 container terminals in the port of Piraeus. Greece has also been helped, easing the pressure on the economy at home.
At this time, the port of Reeus had only 12 suspension bridges and an annual throughput of only 880,000 TEUs. The mainland has made a lot of efforts to build the port terminal of Piraeus and invested a lot of money to help Greece develop maritime transportation and drive the economic development of the port.
Antonis Chochiadis, Minister of Investment and Development of Greece, once recalled that the cooperation between China and Greece in the port of Piraeus has brought tangible benefits to the Greek people, promoted Greece's economic growth, and allowed the two countries to develop friendly relations.
A few years later, Greece offered to sell a majority stake in the port of Piraeus, and Greece tried to sell a 67% stake in the port.
The mainland has worked hard to build the port of Piraeus, and also has a deep affection for it, since Greece wants to sell the equity of this port, then the mainland will of course take it, and this is also a door for the mainland to Europe.
As a result, the mainland offered itself to buy a 67% stake in the port of Piraeus, and Greece also included COSCO Group as the last potential buyer of the port of Piraeus.
But just when everything was ready, things changed. This is not a good thing for the mainland, what exactly is going on?
Sudden change
According to Xinhuanet, in 2008, the mainland beat out other buyers from Dubai International and other buyers for 4.3 billion euros (about 33.8 billion yuan) to win the second and third piers in the port of Piraeus.
Since then, the mainland has invested 800 million euros (about 6 billion yuan) in the port, and in 2014, COSCO Group invested another 400 million euros (about 3.14 billion yuan) to build the port of Piraeus into one of the largest and fastest-growing ports in the Mediterranean.
We invested so much that if we ended up making a wedding dress for another country, it would be a loss for us.
So why did Greece "go back on its word"?
At the end of January 2015, Greece's new president, Alexis Tsipras, was sworn in on the day he was sworn in, halting the "privatization plan" of the port of Piraeus, that is, halting the sale of a stake in the port.
At that time, the deputy minister in charge of Greek shipping said that the Greek government would review the content of the deal with COSCO on the mainland in the interests of the Greek people.
However, Greece's hardline stance relented after only two months, when the country's deputy prime minister said that "the majority stake in the port of Piraeus will be sold to China's COSCO as originally planned".
Why did Greece suddenly say yes again?
Tsipras is understandably opposed to the sale of Greek state assets, given the strategic location of the port of Piraeus, and the sale of a 67 percent stake to a foreign country is inevitably a concern.
In February 2015, mainland leaders and Tsipras spoke on the phone, and the two sides exchanged views for a while. Greece said that they are reviving the economy and need the support and help of the mainland, and Greece is also willing to carry out a series of maritime and other content cooperation with the mainland.
On 16 February, the 18th escort group of the Continental Navy arrived at the port of Piraeus for a four-day official goodwill visit and closer exchanges with the Greek people.
Both of these are the reasons why Tsipras has restarted plans to sell the port of Piraeus, but most importantly, they continue to make money as the Greek economy faces difficulties.
In April 2016, Greece officially finalized the acquisition of 67% of the equity of the port of Piraeus by COSCO Group, and signed an equity transfer agreement with COSCO Group for the port authority, and the mainland successfully acquired 67% of the equity of the port of Piraeus for 368.5 million euros.
As of 2023, COSCO Group has invested more than 600 million euros in the port of Piraeus, completed the upgrading and construction of the port, created 3,000 direct jobs for Greece, and promoted the economic development of Greece.
The Port of Piraeus has also become the first port in the Mediterranean, the fourth largest in Europe, and one of the fastest growing container ports in the world. In the 2022 fiscal year, revenues amounted to 195 million euros and net profit was 52.9 million euros.
The port has also become a gateway to Europe on the mainland, and we will have closer trade with European countries through the port of Piraeus. This is one of the reasons why American politicians are now making a fuss about this port.
However, no matter how much the United States spreads false claims, it is useless. The success of the port of Piraeus has once again demonstrated to the world that China is a worthy partner for everything.
Resources:
[1] Xinhua News Agency, "International Observation: Is China's Investment in Overseas Ports a Threat? The American Fallacy Shows the Logic of Hegemony" 20230730
[2] Xinhuanet, "The new Greek government halts the plan to sell ports to China, Chinese enterprises have invested more than 4 billion", 20150128