Economy

Wen: China backing euro

By Su Qiang (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-10-04 09:15

Wen also said that China will work with Greece to manage the container terminal in Piraeus, the biggest port in Greece, and increase its capacity from today's 1.6 million to 3.7 million containers by 2015.

COSCO, China's leading shipping giant, successfully won a container operation project for Piraeus port in 2008. Under the terms of the contract, COSCO will manage Pier II and Pier III of Piraeus Container Terminals for 35 years.

The volume of containers that moved through the port between January and April increased by 43 percent compared with the same period last year, in spite of the financial crisis.

Wen noted that Sino-Greek ties were an epitome of the overall relationship between China and the EU.

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"It is true that there is competition between China and Europe, but we have far more cooperation than competition," he said.

Europe's investment capital, commodities, technology and patents have found a vast market in China, while European consumers have not only had more choice but cheaper prices, thanks to China's exports, Wen said.

Europe's advanced technology and managerial expertise has helped China upgrade its industries, he noted.

Europe has been China's largest trading partner for six consecutive years, while China has risen to be the EU's second-largest.

Almost 200,000 Chinese students now study in Europe and more than 1 million Chinese tourists visit European countries each year.