SIMIC

The undertaking was made early this month when Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held separate meetings in Athens with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

During the meetings, Mr Yang, who is also the director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said China and Greece are "true friends sharing weal and woe and good partners for mutually beneficial cooperation", UK's Seatrade Maritime News reporting citing Xinhua.

Mr Yang recalled the two heads of state exchanged successful visits in 2019, leading the China-Greece comprehensive strategic partnership to a new historical stage. He also noted the two countries fought Covid-19 shoulder to shoulder, demonstrating once more the spirit of standing together through thick and thin.He said China is ready to work with Greece to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries and inject new impetus into bilateral relations.

Mr Yang also called on the two sides to continuously strengthen high-level guidance and cement strategic mutual trust, promote the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative, and jointly build Piraeus into a world-class port.

Under the management of Cosco Shipping Ports, Piraeus has become the Mediterranean's leading container handling port, the fourth in Europe and 26th globally. The Cosco-managed Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) handled 5.65 million TEU last year against 4.9 million TEU in 2018, recording a 15.1 per cent rise and outperforming the ports of Valencia, Bremen and Algeciras and has marked a 70 per cent growth since 2015.