China-Greece Relation in an Unabated Momentum
The Online Investment Forum on 4th June, 2020 was another occasion when Greek government’s determination for an unfaltering commitment to cooperation with China was made building on their successful cooperation in Piraeus port. This was made clear by the address of the Greek Development and Investment Minister, Adonis Georgriadis when he said that “We are very happy with the Chinese presence in Greece, very proud of our cooperation in Piraeus port. We want to go forward with the master plan of the upgrade of Greece’s largest harbour.” He further added that “We continue even faster and stronger than before to make our ties stronger.” The Minister remarked that the pandemic and their common response have strengthened their cooperation further. The Chinese ambassador to Greece, Zhang Qiyue complemented the tune of cooperation that Greece is the important BRI partner and both sides have a strong desire to strengthen the cooperation for the mutual benefits of people of the two countries.
The pandemic diplomacy is deepening the threads of cooperation. Huge loads of medical supplies around 18 tons arrived Athens on 21st March. “Greece is in constant contact with China, cooperating closely to address the common challenge of the new coronavirus pandemic” said the Alternate Minister of Foreign Affairs, Miltiadis Varvitsiotis. He further added that Greece will continue with this strategic partnership in the future as well.
The policy of “Golden Visa” is a unique step of the Greek government to encourage investment in the country. The programme was launched in July, 2013 which grants a five year residency visa in return for an investment in real estate. It does not require minimum stay and children upto 21 years are included in the family applications. The visa can be renewed every five years without any minimum stay condition and citizenship can be granted after seven years of residency only. The Chinese investors have used the policy in a large scale. As per the statistics of the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum, some 86 percent of Golden Visas issued in the year 2019 was availed by the Chinese up from around 40 percent two years ago. The related new additional changes like 22 percent reduction in property tax and a 50 percent reduction on renovation tax and a new flat tax by cutting the global tax as they have become local tax resident have made more attractive. Thus the visa policy has created a convenient condition to get ‘citizenship by investment’ by extension EU residency and citizenship as well. There is considerable rise among the Chinese investors in Greece and expect a prosperous decade of 2020s.
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Πηγή: moderndiplomacy.eu
