Chinese investment 'not a threat'

News agencies open way to bolster cooperation at New Silk Road Forum

THASSALONIKI, Greece - Chinese investment in Europe should be seen as an opportunity instead of a threat, senior representatives of news agencies said on Sunday during a New Silk Road Forum.

Organized by Greece's Athens News Agency, the forum focuses on the cooperation of news gathering organizations along the Belt and Road and aims at improving communication, facilitating trade and enhancing cultural ties.

Responding to the concerns of some Western media on Chinese investment in Greece, Michail Psylos, president of AMP, said "nobody cares about the report".

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative "gives Greece the room and potential to upgrade its own role in the modern world as a member of the European Union", the president said.

"We think the relationship between China and Greece is of strategic and geopolitical importance, and the news agencies in both countries wish to continue the promotion of the cooperation for it is mutually beneficial for the two countries and the two peoples," he said.

Miguel Sanchez, Spain's EFE Agency's director of economic and financial sector, said: "We are very happy to see in these days the growing number of Chinese companies in Spain ... because they are offering more and more high-quality products."

As to the competition between Chinese and local companies, he said that Spain should be creative on this issue, "because it is a way to improve local business".

Responding to the "threat" of Chinese investment hyped by some Western media outlets, he said he is not the right person to comment because he is not a politician.

But he still gave his explanation. "China is growing and becoming more and more competitive each day, the best way to fight against you is to say that you are doing nothing or doing things in the wrong way," he said.

Chinese investment is not focused on one country but is a boon to the economic development of countries in the South Europe, said Nenad Babic, executive officer of Serbia's TANJUG news agency.

"The initiative has given us a chance to strengthen our relationship in more than just political way. Concrete projects with Chinese investment obviously facilitate that process," Babic said.

"China invested in Serbia's biggest iron producer under the framework of Belt and Road Initiative. The construction of the railway connecting Serbia and Hungary will be done also with the financial help of Chinese banks. The railway will connect the south Europe with the Piraeus port in Greece which will facilitate the big trade in the whole region," he said.

During the forum, representatives from 25 news agencies agreed to further strengthen the cooperation in such fields as economy, science and technology as well as people-to-people exchanges.

Agencies from China, Greece, Spain, Russia, Italy, Bulgaria, Serbia and Poland, among others, were represented at the forum. At the end of the forum, delegates from the 25 news agencies unanimously approved a joint declaration to enhance relations and strengthen their contacts at all levels.

Xinhua

(China Daily 09/12/2017 page11)