One of the most important aspects of Sino-Greek relations and of China’s presence in Greece is its highly positive image. This image has been steadily improved in previous years. In particular, a Kapa Research survey demonstrates that 60.1% of respondents in Greece sees China positively. Additionally, a poll of the same company shows that that 83% of Greeks favors close economic relations with China and 77% believes that this country will be a superpower in the medium or long-term. Last but not least, 64.4% responds that it wants to visit China and 43% considers Chinese as the language of the future.
The process of China’s image improvement in Greece has not been easy. In 2010, for instance, only 36.5% of Greek respondents regarded China in a positive way according to Kapa Research. The investment of COSCO in the port of Piraeus in mid-2009 along with the traditional suspicion of various Greek citizens on the privatization of Greek public property had initially generated a wave of reactions. Nevertheless, the importance and sustainability of COSCO’s investment in Piraeus started gradually to be realized. The increase of the afore-mentioned percentage to 60.1% confirms the drastic change of climate vis-à-vis China in Greece.
