Over 13 years of win-win cooperation between China's COSCO Shipping and Greece's largest port Piraeus has proven to be an exemplary case of common development, top managers and employees of the landmark investment project have said.

This aerial photo taken on Feb. 15, 2019 shows a container ship of the COSCO Shipping approaching Piraeus port, Greece. (Xinhua/Wu Lu)

In 2010, Piraeus Container Terminal S.A. (PCT), a subsidiary of 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 S.A. (PPA). The Sino-Greek cooperation has drastically enhanced the container throughput of Piraeus port and brought significant benefits to the Greek economy and the local community.

Through win-win cooperation between the Chinese and Greek sides, Piraeus port has now taken a leading position in terms of container throughput and become the largest ferry port and the third largest cruise port in the European region, Yu Zenggang, executive chairman of PPA, told Xinhua.

Aerial photo taken on Sept. 6, 2019 shows the Piraeus port in Greece. (Photo by Lefteris Partsalis/Xinhua)

WIN-WIN COOPERATION

Since cooperation with the Chinese side was launched, the port of Piraeus has seen dramatic growth in container throughput and PCT is considered as a major contributor to the progress. Wang Jihang, executive deputy managing director of PCT, said the port has maintained an annual operating container throughput of over 5 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) in recent years, up from 0.88 million TEUs back in 2010.

"The continuous growth of container throughput and PCT's business performance have made outstanding contributions to the development of the Greek economy and local society, creating about 3,000 direct jobs," Wang said.

In 2016, more growth was recorded after COSCO Shipping acquired a majority stake in PPA, expanding investment to the ferry, cruise, car terminal, and ship repair sectors, among others.

For Nektarios Demenopoulos, who has been working at PPA since 2006 and now serves as its public and investor relations deputy manager, significant changes have taken place at the port after cooperation started with the Chinese side.

"Big investments have been implemented in all business activities. There is huge development in container business and upon the privatization agreement with the Greek government, there is still a lot of investments to be done," Demenopoulos said.

Demenopoulos told Xinhua that the majority of employees come from Piraeus and surrounding municipalities, adding that "it has been estimated that every working position created in the port creates an additional three new indirect working positions for supplementary activities."

"So for sure, this is a very big contribution of the Piraeus port authority to the local society and national economy," the deputy manager said.

Antonis Apergis, the superintendent of PCT's engineering department, has been working at the company for 11 years. As a local resident of Piraeus, he sees the port project as an exemplary case of win-win cooperation.

"The company has helped the wider region a lot, because if we recall it (the investment) started in a very difficult period for Greece (during the debt crisis)," Apergis said.

With the Chinese investment, new jobs were created, and this gave a very big boost, especially to the port's surrounding area, he told Xinhua.

"On the other hand, if you look at the geographical location of the port, it gives a strategic, let's say, competitive advantage in the specific sector. And let's not forget that the port became one of the largest in the whole world, so both Greece as a country and the company have gained," he added.

A cruise ship is seen at Piraeus port in Piraeus, Greece, June 2, 2022.(Xinhua/Marios Lolos)