President Xi and Premier Tsipras in New York. Source: Xinhua
The official visit of Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to China constitutes a significant opportunity to further promote Sino-Greek relations. The privatisation of the Piraeus Port Authority – in spite of the problem caused by the content of the concession agreement brought to the Greek Parliament, which was finally overcome – paves the way for the signing of new bilateral agreements. This is the specific objective of Alexis Tsipras, who seeks to give a pure business nature to his visit. In that regard, he is accompanied by a Greek business delegation. China has publicly expressed its will to contribute to Greece’s recovery. This will is now even more apparent.
But the visit of the Greek Prime Minister should not only be a media firework and confine itself to vague statements. It needs to have continuity. In previous years, important visits and meetings of Greek politicians have not always been followed by practice. A systematic effort and patience are required. This is the biggest challenge for the Greek side.
The website chinaandgreece.com actively supports the establishing of close relations between Greece and China, which is certainly facilitated by the visit of Tsipras. Nonetheless, this establishing of close relations does not stop here. The more difficult and complicated part of doing business starts now.
