China to double investment fund for Greek shipping

(Reuters) - China will double to about $10 billion the size of a fund offering cheap loans to Greek shipowners, Greece’s Maritime Affairs minister said on Saturday.

China agreed in October to set up a 5 billion dollar fund to help Greek shipowners buy Chinese-made vessels. Greeks control a big part of the world’s commercial fleet and many of their vessels are built in shipyards in the Far East.

“It is extremely positive that we have doubled this amount to about 10 billion dollars,” Diamantidis was quoted as saying in an interview to newspaper To Thema. Diamantidis visited China earlier this week.

“China has pledged that the financing terms for Greek companies will be better than those offered by any other bank in the world,” Diamantidis said.

Chinese shipping conglomerate Cosco has pledged to charter Greek-owned ships built in China, he added.

COSCO Chief meets YML delegation

On 1 March, Capt. Wei Jiafu, President and CEO of COSCO Group met with visiting Chairman & CEO of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation Dr. Frank F. H. Lu and his senior delegation in Beijing Ocean Plaza. Both parties thoroughly exchanged views on advancing and promoting bilateral collaborations in the future. This meeting was also attended by    Conway Han, Chairman of Yong-Carrier Co., Ltd, Hermann Yu, Executive Vice President of Yang Ming Marine Transport Corporation, Capt. Zhang Liang, Vice President of COSCO Group, Capt. Xu Minjie, Vice President of COSCO Group.