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Fifteen years ago, operations at Piraeus Port in Greece were devastated by the global financial crisis, and the port was on the brink of bankruptcy.
Despite an international lack of confidence, a Chinese company invested.
In 2010, Piraeus Container Terminal, a subsidiary of China’s COSCO Shipping, took over the management of terminals II and III of the port, and six years later, COSCO Shipping acquired a majority stake in Piraeus Port Authority (PPA).
“For China, Piraeus Port is a bet. For Greek people, the growth of Piraeus Port is also a bet,” Savvas Sanozidis, secretary of the board of directors for Piraeus Port, told CGTN.
The result of the twin bets has been win-win, and Piraeus Port has become an important driver in the Sino-Greek efforts to develop the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
Today, Piraeus Port is one of the biggest container terminals, ferry ports, and railway or car terminal premises in Europe. The PPA announced record-high turnover and profits in 2023, with total revenues of 219.8 million euros ($237.13 million).
The success of the port has had a knock-on effect for the development of local businesses, communities and the Greek economy. About 4,300 direct jobs have been created, and almost 45 percent of the people who work for PPA come from nearby communities. In 2022, the company’s tax and social security contributions surpassed 70 million euros, over 1.56 percent of Greece’s GDP.
Sanozidis, who has worked for PPA for 17 years, believes the secret behind the port’s success lies in learning and sharing between the two civilizations. “Chinese people are very methodological, the Greeks are very flexible. Somehow, together, the results are great.”
For George Papandreou, who was prime minister of Greece when the Sino-Greek cooperation project at Piraeus Port started in 2009, harmonious cooperation towards common goals is of great importance.
“I believe in our civilizations, both the Chinese civilization and Greek civilization, the ancient Greek civilization. We have concepts which provide us with guidelines to (achieve) more harmonious cooperation in our world,” Papandreou said.
More than trade
Chinese President Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for respect for the diversity of civilizations and highlighted the importance of mutual learning between different civilizations.
“Without achieving the good of 100 various schools, the uniqueness of one individual cannot be achieved,” Xi once said, citing an ancient Chinese saying to make his point.
“No civilization in the world is superior to others; every civilization is special and unique to its own region. Civilizations can achieve harmony, only through communication, and can make progress only through harmonization,” Xi added.
The ancient Silk Road was a route for trade in goods, but a byproduct was the stimulation of diverse civilization exchanges between the East and the West. Passing on the tradition of the Silk Road, one of the goals of the BRI is to promote mutual understanding, respect and admiration among different civilizations.
Over the decade since the BRI was put forward in 2013, diverse cultural exchanges among partner countries have flourished. According to a white paper on Belt and Road cooperation issued by China’s State Council, by the end of June 2023, China had signed cultural and tourism cooperation documents with 144 BRI partners.
China released the Education Action Plan for the Belt and Road Initiative in 2016 to promote international education exchanges and cooperation. By the end of June 2023, China had signed agreements with 45 participating countries on the mutual recognition of higher education degrees.
China has also set up the Silk Road Scholarship for 10,000 students from Belt and Road partner countries to study in China each year.
At last year’s third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, China announced a series of new measures to further promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges, including hosting a special forum to enhance civilization dialogue with BRI partner countries, launching the International Tourism Alliance of Silk Road Cities, and continuing with the Chinese government scholarship Silk Road Program.
When visiting Greece in 2019, President Xi was given a special tour of Piraeus Port. “Seeing is believing,” Xi said when witnessing the new lease of life at the port. “The BRI is not a slogan or tale, but a successful practice and brilliant reality.”
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