The new ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Greece, Zhang Qiyue, was due to visit the port of the Piraeus on Monday for talks with Chinese multinational Cosco’s top leadership in the east Mediterranean country.
The Shanghai-based shipping and port management giant acquired a majority stake and assumed the management of the Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) in August 2016, one of the biggest and most important privatizations in Greece over the past two decades.
Zhang, who has yet to officially assume the diplomatic post in Athens, was due to be briefed on the course of major Chinese investments at the port of Piraeus.
Another issue on the agenda is a recent rejection, by the Attica prefecture authority, of an appeal by PPA of a previous decision to not grant a shipbuilding license to the port.
Cosco-managed PPA has repeatedly referred to its interest in offering expanded ship-repair and even ship-building capacity at Greece’s biggest and busiest port.
Although a shipyard license was not in the concession contract signed by Cosco with the Greek state, the multinational now appears highly interested in extending its activity to the sector.
According to sources that spoke with “N”, PPA’s leadership will examine the possibility of seeking legal recourse to administrative courts against the decision by the regional authority.
