Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Greece - the first to this country since the Chinese politician took office in 2013 - had important effects, first of all the signing of a series of economic cooperation agreements between China and Greece worth of five billion dollars. The treaties cover various areas, including exports, transport - by sea, air and land - and shipbuilding.
What is the advantage of Greece is clear: to procure foreign investment to reduce the public debt and the unemployment rate, both dramatically high. But China also has its advantage, aiming to create a privileged access point to the Mediterranean and Europe at an affordable cost.
The agreement therefore takes the form of a "win-win" type agreement, in which there are no losers but only winners. If one of the two parties is more successful than the other, time will tell. Li Keqiang described the port of Piraeus - on which China has long had its eye - as a "pearl in the Mediterranean" and declared that "it could become one of the most competitive in the world".
Moreover, since 2008, the Chinese Cosco (China Ocean Shipping Company), a state-owned shipping company, has been present in Piraeus, with a 35-year lease to manage and expand the port's two largest container terminals . The new agreement provides instead that the Celestial Empire put a capital of 310 million dollars to restructure and expand the port, a project which however requires the approval of the European Union.
Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, for his part, announced in an interview that the Chinese are also interested in a participation in Greek airports, and expressed the desire that his country become a transit hub of primary importance for the air traffic. The economic treaties were preceded by a mutual exchange of flowery expressions on the greatness of the civilization and history of the two peoples, Greek and Chinese, and on the mutual admiration for their respective cultural traditions.
In particular, Premier Li said that different civilizations are nothing but different crystallizations of universal human wisdom and that China and Greece share some cultural traits, including a love of peace. As it was not difficult to predict, the bilateral agreement did not convince the opposition, which accused the government of selling off "the family silver" at a ridiculous price.
