The port of Piraeus deal and concerns about Chinese investments in Greece

This month the Piraeus Port Authority handed a further 16 percent of its shares to Cosco, cementing its control by the Chinese state-backed shipping group, which bought 51 percent of the Greek port in August 2016 during the financial crisis.

The deal has intensified unease in the EU over China’s increasing involvement in European infrastructure and met a wall of opposition over environmental and social concerns, and China’s unmet investment pledges. 

Eleni Varvitsioti, the Financial Times correspondent for Greece and Cyprus based in Athens, joins The Greek Current to look at the latest developments at the Port of Piraeus, the concerns of local residents to China’s investments, the reactions of the EU and the US to Chinese activity in the region, and the broader climate in Greece-China relations.