By Mark Lowen
BBC News, Athens
Rail-mounted cranes
use a complex system of ropes and pulleys to offload containers from cargo
ships onto Lorries. The equipment was built by China's state-run shipping
company, COSCO, which paid 500m euros (£426m) to upgrade and run the terminal.
It is Greece's largest inward investment and gives China a key access point to
Europe.
"Everywhere is a business
opportunity," says deputy general manager Zhang Anming. "We found one
here and we've been successful." I ask whether he feels Greece needs China
more than the reverse. "Greece needs us and we need Greece," he
replies diplomatically. "It's a win-win situation".
Unions banned
But of course crisis-ridden Greece is crying
out for a helping hand. It is desperate for investment, its privatisation drive
woefully behind schedule. The original goal was to raise 50bn euros by 2015,
but delays have adjusted it down to just 11bn.
Western companies are still wary of a
country riddled with social unrest and high debt, so that has left the field
largely clear to the emerging economies of the east - and they are now eyeing a
foothold in the European Union on very favorable terms. Piraeus port workers
protest against privatisation Greek dockers' unions remain determined to resist
privatisation.
The Greek Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras,
led a huge trade delegation to Beijing in May, and China has shown interest in
ports, airports and possibly the national railway.
Athens has even launched a new programme to
give Greek residency to those who invest at least 250,000 euros in real estate
here. A Chinese man has become the first to benefit. Under Cosco's management,
the cargo terminal has doubled the containers it processes but its policies,
such as banning the unionization of staff, are strict. A second terminal at
Piraeus is still state-owned and the general secretary of the dockworkers'
union, Giorgos Gogos, wants it to stay that way. He says China's strategy is
self-seeking, preying on a "vulnerable Greek economy" to reap the benefit.
"Nobody gives money for nothing, especially Chinese companies and the
Chinese government," he says. "It's interested in helping itself. The
investment in Piraeus is positive for Chinese companies but not for the public
interest," he adds. "Cosco didn't create the jobs it said it
would."
