Greek-Chinese relations: “Six months delay” for the new Silk Road

The pandemic had put a “brake” on the new business plans of Greece and China. At the same time, new incidents are taking place in the China-US trade war, Lambros Zacharis writing for Sputnik Greece said.

The cooperation of Greece and China under the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative must be accepted with great enthusiasm by both sides, but because of the coronavirus pandemic, it appears that the New Silk Road has been temporarily closed.

“The initiative of the New Silk Road has been left behind for six months,” Fotis Provatas, president of the Chamber of Hellenic-Chinese Economic Cooperation, told Sputnik Greece.

In this context, 16 agreements that attract funds from China to Greece, “wait” for their immediate implementation.

“In order for Greek-Chinese relations to move forward, the borders must be opened and the implementation of the agreements signed by the Chinese and Greek governments must continue,” he added.

These are agreements in banking, agriculture, construction, energy, and other fields. As he explains, the big bet is to open the channels of communication between entrepreneurs.

“We have to be able to meet face to face again by September. In this way the agreements are closed. From the Chinese side, there is full readiness. Here we still do not know about the outcome of the pandemic and we are moving at a slower pace. However, our country is moving in the direction of warming up again,” said Provatas.

As he explained to Sputnik Greece, in this context, Greece participated in two teleconferences for the 17 + 1 Initiative (including the cooperation initiative of Eastern, Southeastern and Central European countries with China). One of the teleconferences concerned the opening of bilateral relations, while the second was more technical.

The US-China trade war

According to the president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the trade war “will continue with relentless versions.”

“It’s a tough anti-Chinese policy. Trump has commitments with American companies, and some European countries consider it necessary to implement the doctrine of the American president,” he said.

At the same time, he estimated that Trump’s possible re-election could lead to a difficult five years for the global economic system.

“As the global economy will pay the consequences of coronavirus, the US led by Trump will face big trouble. It can even destroy them. At the moment, the United States is allying with [Israel’s Benjamin] Netanyahu, [Britain’s Boris] Johnson, and [Turkey’s Recep Tayyip] Erdogan, creating a disastrous group for the world economy. The revelation of the American political leadership by John Bolton will be published in detail in Greek and will show the characteristics of a mafia family that is only interested in its own interests,” he explained.