During Xi visit, Greece, China sign 16 pacts

By Mehmet Hatipoglu

ATHENS (AA) - Chinese President Xi Jinping’s official visit to Athens on Monday saw the signing of 16 agreements in a host of areas, most notably using Greece as a gateway to Western markets.

Xi met with his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis during his visit.

During the visit, among the bilateral agreements signed was one to ease obstacles to China's Cosco Group investment in the port of Piraeus.

The pacts also include an extradition agreement, the Bank of China opening a branch in Athens, and TV and radio program exchanges.

Jinping also visited Cosco's offices at the port of Piraeus.

Chinese transportation sector giant Cosco bought a majority of shares in the port after it was privatized, and has a 35-year concession to run the port.

Last week, when Mitsotakis was in Shanghai for an import expo, Xi spoke of Greece becoming “a logistics center” for Chinese goods to reach the West.

Piraeus is Greece’s largest commercial port.

* Writing by Fatih Hafiz Mehmet in Ankara