China says Greece will thrive if managed by us

Five years ago, state-owned container giant Cosco, the no.1 liner carrier in China, paid €3.3 billion into the coffers of Greece’s cash-starved government, buying out half the lease for the port of Piraeus, giving the Chinese a 35-year control of Greece’s biggest port. Today, while Greece sinks further with unemployment rate hitting 26 percent, Cosco successfully converted Piraeus into a hotbed of productivity, a place of hope in a country so badly tattered by the debt crisis.

Behind the success is Captain Fu Cheng Qiu, the general director of Piraeus Container Terminal, a subsidiary of Cosco, who was sent by Beijing to manage the Greek port. Not only has he managed to mostly steer clear of the Greek crisis, under his supervision, Cosco’s parts of Piraeus port went from decline to seeing its cargo volume increased by three times than it was two years ago – this is despite that cargo shipment in the entire Greece has dropped 20 percent.

The other half of the port is still run by Greece. And the fact that its business lags behind Cosco’s half is emblematic of what was wrong in the country, especially the entrenched labor rules and relatively high wages – for those lucky enough to still have jobs – that have stifled the country’s economic growth. As the Greek government contemplates shedding more state-owned assets to help pay down staggering debts, it might be tempting to consider leasing or even selling the rest of the port to China.

Sitting in his office, Fu says he doesn’t believe the wave of criticisms from the rest of Europe about Greeks being lazy. “Everyone here knows that you must be hard-working, of all our managerial employees, we have only seven Chinese nationals. Greeks are very good and work really hard.” His deputy director, Zhang An Ming, agrees, “All the builders are Greek. They are top-notch. There is no delay, they are even running ahead of schedule.”

Greece has been the worst-performing European economy in the past several years, and is expected to see its GDP shrink by another 5 percent this year, though an improvement from last year where it contracted by more than 6 percent. The country’s fiscal health, in its fifth year of recession, is steeply going downhill, but the Chinese see it differently. Cosco modernized the port terminal, set up new electric cranes to unload cargo more quickly, and construct another new terminal – with a depth of 18 meters – to host larger ships. Piraeus Pier Three started operations in spring of 2013, earlier than originally scheduled.

In addition to that, Cosco invested $388 million to expand the dock, boosting its capacity to handle up to 3.7 million containers by 2016, which would make it one of the world’s 10 largest ports. Such capital injection is rare to come by in Greece nowadays, but the Chinese aim to make Piraeus a hub to rival Netherlands’ Rotterdam – currently Europe’s largest port.

For China, Piraeus is a gateway to bring Chinese goods into Europe and beyond. China envisages the creation of a network of ports, logistics centers and railways to distribute its products across Europe – akin to a modern day Silk Road hastening the speed of China-Europe trade.

“The equipment was old and in bad shape. We repaired or replaced it,” says Fu. “When I arrived here, we would operate between 10 and 12 containers per hour. Today, we operate 44 per hour. Ship owners are happy, they no longer waste time and money, and neither do we.” Fu added that he would love Cosco to run all of Piraeus if the government put it up for sale. That expansion would cement Chinese dominance on one of the most strategic shipping gateways to Southern Europe and the Balkans.

The Chinese are effectively betting on Greece’s maritime strategic values, even though its economy is in complete disarray. Greece is a major player in the international shipping industry, it is a maritime nation by tradition, a key element of its economic activity since ancient times. Through dominating the maritime trade in the region, the Greeks were able to expand along the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea, establishing colonies, and thereby began the Ancient Greece civilization.

Greece has nearly 4,000 ships, amounted to 8 percent of all vessels sailing or 15 percent of the world’s total moving capacity. Greek companies control an amazing 25 percent of the world’s tanker fleet, and 18 percent of the world’s bulk carriers, according to George Gratsos, president of the Hellenic Chamber of Shipping. Shipping accounts for 6 percent of Greece’s GDP, and a European Community Shipowners’ Association report for 2014-2015 reveals that the Greek flag is the fifth-most-used internationally for shipping.

Controlling the largest and most important port in Greece could provide China some additional leverage in the international shipping industry. And the Chinese are certainly not stranger to port management either; six of the world’s 10 busiest ports (including Hong Kong) are now in China, with Singapore, Dubai, Busan and Rotterdam making out the rest.

Port management is also an industry where the West trailed the East. Singapore’s PSA International is at the moment, the world’s biggest port operator, followed by Hong Kong’s Hutchison Port, Dubai’s DP World, Denmark’s APM-Maersk, China’s Cosco and Germany’s EuroGate. The three Asian entities above handled a total 20 percent of all cargoes passed through the globe.

The Chinese economic clout is increasingly being felt in Greece. Standing on the dock in the Greek section of Piraeus port, Golfis Yiannis, a port worker, pointed to the adjacent, Chinese-managed pier, “That’s Europe’s new China Town over there,” he says. “The only thing that is certain is that we’ve sold our soul to the Chinese.” John Makrydimitris, another port worker, points toward his feet. “There is Greece,” he says. Then he gestures toward a metal fence just yards away. “And there is China,” he added.

Workers at the port, like others in Greece, are uneasy about the long-term implications of allowing China to take advantage of the country’s economic weakness to grab such an important stake in a strategically crucial part of its economy. George Nouhoutides, president of the Union of Dockworkers, told The Sunday Telegraph that the decision to award the port to China was “catastrophic”.

“When you discuss a deal with one wealthy country and one which has a lot of debt, who dictates the terms?” he asked. “China wants a ‘Made in Europe’ label with tax exemptions, favourable terms and to **** with Greek interests.” Nouhoutides added: “They are playing a clever game. They have 1.5 billion slaves and money to burn, so of course they want to access our markets. It is catastrophic for all workers – not just for the Greeks.”

As for the port, “It is as if they have created a supermarket right next to our minimarket,” said Mr Nouhoutides. “How can we, the Greeks, ever compete with that?”

But ship owners and Greek businesses who benefited from the Chinese success have different voice. “This is the locomotive for our development,” said Nikolaos Arvanitis, president of the International Maritime Union – the organization that represents the world’s largest shipping companies. “Greece needs investment. The Chinese came with good will and we are open to other people who want to come and invest here.”

At a time when Greece is facing the serious challenge of implementing the structural reforms necessary to re-energize its economy, the shipping industry is putting in over €8.5 billion of investments. “Our old ways of working were very primitive. Now we can really drive forwards and improve Greece’s economy. There is nothing to be afraid of. The Chinese are here to develop our infrastructure, and we will benefit. It is a win-win project,” Nikolas said.

The Chinese are also showing their strength in Greece. Wei Jia Fu, Cosco’s chief executive, appears in Greece’s Skai Television to say: “I came here to help bring the port of Piraeus back to its original position. I hope soon it will be the number one container port in the Mediterranean. We have a saying in China, ‘Construct the eagle’s nest, and the eagle will come’. We have constructed such a nest in your country to attract such Chinese eagles. This is our contribution to you.”

The port may also be just the beginning of China’s ambition in Greece, Wei is also looking to acquire stakes in other Greek industries including railways, commercial shipping and tourism, as well as airport management concessions in Crete and elsewhere. So much so German newspaper Zeitung says it is worried that Cosco may opt to move its European headquarter from Hamburg to Greece capital Athens.

Across the Greek-managed Piraeus, Thanassis Koinis, a deputy director at the Piraeus Port Authority, stared out the window of his dilapidated office at the bustling cranes soaring above Cosco’s docks. “It’s like another country over there.” Koinis and some other Greeks accuse Cosco of using employment subcontractors that hire temporary, unskilled, nonunion workers desperate for jobs and exploit them by paying low wages.

Tasos Vamvakidis, Cosco’s commercial manager here, however, discarded the complaints and says they are sour grapes. “It’s easy to say things against Cosco; but when you come here, you see that everything works properly,” he said. “We win business by showing that we work 24-7, 365 days a year. Maybe in other terminals, people work less. In any case, if it’s so bad, thousands of people would not be applying to work for Cosco.”

But a former Cosco worker, who had just been sacked, spoke to NPR about work conditions on the Chinese-run pier, on the condition that his name not be used. The worker says he regularly worked eight hours a day with no meal breaks and no toilet breaks. “I think their actions are breaking the law,” the worker said. “The rights are to have something to eat around 12 o’clock and to have our breaks, and not work like a dog straight through from morning till afternoon.”

He says workers were told by supervisors to urinate into the sea, rather than taking toilet breaks. Those operating straddle carriers had to take cups up into their cabins to urinate into, and he says they were not given breaks, either, despite the clear dangers of operating at such a height for so long. “If you are a worker for Cosco, then you know suddenly how it is to work in the Chinese Republic.”

The worker says he was paid 600 euros a month — about 50 euros each shift — around half the salary at the neighboring Greek-operated pier, with no extra money for working night shifts or weekends. There was no set schedule; he was kept on 24-hour call for nine months.

His wife says the experience changed his personality. “In the end, it was like a nervous breakdown,” she says, gazing at him with concern. “All day he was just waiting to see whether they would call. He didn’t know if he had time to eat or to sleep. Sometimes they would ring in the night to tell him to go to work. It was like torture.”

Piraeus representative Theodore Dritsas, from the left-wing Greek Syriza party accused China of making Piraeus its colony, “What has happened is beyond our imagination. The main problem is that Greece is no longer a sovereign state in economic terms.”

Greek Minister of State Haris Pamboukis however, told NPR that Cosco is a “model” to be followed. He denied all knowledge of any labor violations, shrugging this off as “rumors” by competitors. “The only kind of law applicable is Greek law, and we’re not going to import any kind of practices – Chinese, Martian or elsewhere – who are not conforming to our legislation,” he says. “We are in a country for rule of law, and that’s it.”

Fu, the Cosco general director in Greece, says Greeks should learn from the Chinese. “The Chinese want to make money with work,” he said. “Too many Europeans have pursued a comfortable, protected existence since the end of World War II. They wanted a good life, more holidays and less work,” he said. “And they spent money before they had it. Now they have many debts.”

“For Greek workers, Cosco is their future,” Fu said. “And we are here to stay.” The increased port activities have given the Greek government some additional badly-needed tax revenues.

Cosco’s success in Greece has impressed a number of international organizations. “Unionized labor will push back to keep the protection it has enjoyed,” said Vassilis Antoniades, the chief executive of Boston Consulting Group in Greece. “But the Cosco investment, shows that under private management, Greek companies and ports can be globally competitive.”

Greece is not the only European nations to see an influx of Chinese investment. In crisis-hit Spain, Portugal and Ireland, industrial assets are likewise, rapidly falling into the hands of Chinese investors. Spain, for instance, saw investment and commercial deals from China jumped 11.7% in 2011, with further double digit increase in 2012 and maintained growth to present.

China’s largest privately-owned conglomerate Shanghai Fosun High Technology (Group) Co. has identified tourism as the future of Spanish economy and is currently in the talk of constructing the Barcelona World, a €4.7 billion investment to build six theme parks along with amusement facilities, casinos, hotels, convention venues and shopping centers, that would make it the largest family amusement resort in Europe.

In Ireland, the Lord Mayor of Dublin welcomes bids from the Chinese to buy out Irish banks and pump fresh funds into the banking sector. The country has approved to lease an Irish town for China to be used as its ‘trading hub’ in Europe. China will construct an international trade and commerce center on a 137-hectare site at Creggan, Athlone to promote Chinese goods all over Europe. The Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny went personally to China last year to negotiate more Chinese investments into Irish state assets and industries.

In Portugal, the Portuguese government sold 21 percent stake of Energias de Portugal (EDP) to China’s state-owned Three Gorges Corp. in 2011, making the Chinese the biggest shareholder of Portugal’s electric monopoly. Last month, Three Gorges said it is throwing out cash to buy more stakes, increasing to as much as 49 percent, pledged €2 billion in follow-on investment, and up to €2 billion more in financing for the deeply indebted Portuguese concern.

This raises eyebrows in Portugal; EDP enjoys a virtual monopoly on the residential retail energy market, some fear Three Gorges will press for more price hikes in order to recoup its investment. Others simply don’t like the idea of their country’s electricity supply fallen to a non-democratic country.

Portuguese business publication Baptista wondered if the company will continue to be Portuguese if the Chinese buy an even bigger stake to become the majority owner. “Or if the Chinese decide to sell it to another company, that will tear EDP apart and maybe would risk our – the Portuguese – supply of electricity,” it said.

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Source: AfricaMetro