ALL EYES ON ATHENS: Athens next week, as Greece’s business ties Chinese Foreign Minister with China came under close scrutiny.
Most imPORTantly: China invested heavily in Greece during the country’s long financial crisis, raising concerns about Beijing’s undue influence in the country. Since 2016, Chinese shipping giant COSCO has owned a majority stake in the port of Piraeus, the heart of Greece’s giant shipping industry. Wang is widely expected to lobby the Greek government to continue supporting COSCO’s presence there, as EU is asking member countries to pay closer attention on inbound investments from state-owned enterprises such as COSCO.
Further reading:
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank, published phone number database this report on China’s relationship with Greece, Hungary, Romania and Georgia.
They’re running out of supply of magnesium, a vital material for the aluminum, automotive and steel industries. The shortage apparently stems from increasing scrutiny from the Chinese authorities, citing environmental concerns.
COMMISSION IN TOUCH WITH BEIJING:
We are aware of the current shortage of magnesium which is affecting global supply chains hong kong data and is monitoring the situation closely together with the EU industry. In this context, we are raising this issue with our Chinese counterparts in order to address immediate shortages and are assessing long-term solutions to tackle this strategic dependency,” an EU official told China Direct on Wednesday.
Dependent it is indeed:
Once again we are paying the price of relying on one source for our supply of prospect vs. lead: what’s the difference? critical raw materials,” Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou, a member of the European Parliament who’s among a group of her fellows raising concern on the matter, said. “It is not sustainable to rely on one supplier, we cannot continue to go down this route. These critical raw materials are key to our transition to a green and digital economy We need to act now to ensure Europe’s strategic autonomy.
