BRI brings new vitality to Greece's largest port

"Six hundred million euros (658.2 million U.S. dollars) worth of total investment from COSCO Shipping has made the PCT a leading Mediterranean port next only to the ports of Rotterdam, Antwerp and Hamburg in Europe," Panos Zerefos, the PCT's financial manager, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

The PPA has posted equally impressive results in recent years. The company announced record-high revenues and profitability in 2022. Its annual turnover stood at 194.6 million euros in 2022, an increase of 26.2 percent from 2021, and its profit before tax reached 74.7 million euros, which was 51.7 percent higher than the year before.

In 2022, the port handled 880,416 passengers, a 190 percent increase, with 667 cruise ship berths occupied, an increase of 79 percent compared to 2021. This was above pre-pandemic levels.

The new image of a modern, reliable, efficient port has helped attract more foreign investment to Greece. Business giants like ZTE, Hewlett-Packard and Huawei started using the cargo terminals as logistics hubs for their merchandise and more projects in several sectors followed.

This August, during an event to celebrate the PPA's 20 years of listing on the Athens Stock Exchange, PPA Chairman Yu Zenggang said that it "coincided with the announcement of the highest-ever dividend" to be distributed to shareholders. It amounted to 1.04 euros per share, a 65.6 percent increase compared to 2021, according to a press release.