Athens
27
02
2023
MARITIME

China and Greece sign shipping finance deal

The Lujiazui Financial City Council in Shanghai, China, and the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping signed a strategic cooperation agreement on shipping finance during an online event Friday.
The Lujiazui Financial City Council in Shanghai, China, and the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping signed a strategic cooperation agreement on shipping finance during an online event Friday.

Under the agreement, the two parties will establish a collaborative network to stimulate communication among shipping companies and financial institutions from both international shipping centers, speakers from both sides said.

Greece’s Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs and Island Policy Kostas Katsafados told the event the agreement “will further strengthen the relations of the countries in the financing sector.”

The signing of the agreement symbolizes the lasting collaboration and strong bonds between the two maritime centers, he said.

 

In recent decades, Greece and China have built a strong complementary relationship based on the sea.

 

Greeks control 25% of the world’s oceangoing merchant fleet and the synergies with China, the world’s largest exporter, are obvious, he explained.

Greek shipowners have had more than a thousand ships built in China’s shipyards over the past 15 years, worth over $50 billion, while Chinese banks’ exposure to Greek shipping is $3 billion, Katsafados said.

Huang Hongyuan, representative of the chairman unit of the Lujiazui Financial City Council and vice president of the Bank of Communications, signed the agreement in China, and George Xiradakis, president of the Association of Banking and Financial Executives of Hellenic Shipping, in Greece. [Xinhua]