Leaders hail Piraeus as BRI flagship

China's efforts to advance the Belt and Road Initiative - particularly the landmark Port of Piraeus project in Greece - under the leadership of President Xi Jinping have led to remarkable progress and benefits for both countries and Eurasia as a whole, according to leaders and officials.

They said that as Greece has become a vital hub on several BRI routes, Piraeus has consistently scored higher in global rankings than many of its rival ports.

After Greece's debt crisis in 2009, China's State-owned giant COSCO Shipping started to manage and revitalize the Greek port. Reinforced, updated facilities there have contributed to rising capacity, turnover and annual throughput of containers in recent years.

During a stopover visit to Greece in 2014, Xi told Greek leaders that the Chinese government encourages other capable Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Greece and supports the effective management of the Piraeus port project, making Greece a key hub of China-Europe cooperation.

When he met Greece's former prime minister Alexis Tsipras in Beijing in July 2016, Xi said China was ready to continue working with Greece and building Piraeus into the largest container transit port in the Mediterranean Sea and an influential hub for land and sea transport.

In 2018, the port's container throughput increased to 4.9 million 20-foot equivalent units, a standard size for shipping containers, and its global ranking surged from 93 in 2010 to 32 last year.

Piraeus was a key reference for Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his recent visit to China. In a Nov 3 meeting with Li Qiang, Party secretary of Shanghai, he said more Chinese companies are welcome to invest in Greece and bolster cooperation in areas including shipping, port facilities and tourism.

On Nov 4, he visited COSCO Shipping headquarters in Shanghai, and said his country appreciates the company for helping Piraeus become the largest port in the Mediterranean within a short time and for creating jobs for more than 3,000 local people.

In discussions with Xi in Beijing, Mitsotakis said Piraeus had become a flagship project as the two countries are jointly supporting the BRI.

Xi said China stands ready to work with Greece to promote pragmatic cooperation, in particular to let the Piraeus project play a leading and demonstrative role and to jointly build the BRI.

Vice-Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Thursday that China and Greece are "real friends" in co-building the Belt and Road and win-win cooperation. Qin said that Greece, a European Union member, signed the intergovernmental cooperative document on co-building the Belt and Road early on.

The Port of Piraeus has made an important contribution to promoting local economic and social development in Greece and promoting connectivity, Qin said.