Piraeus Port Authority

Xu Lirong, head of China Cosco Shipping Corporation, holder of a controlling stake in Piraeus Port Authority, is the man with the greatest influence in global shipping, according to the annual rankings of Lloyd's List. The top 100 includes 15 Greek shippers.

Greece should reach a deal with its eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund next week on a package of reforms, which will help to unlock remaining bailout funds, the country's economy minister said on Wednesday.

 Revenues boost from monitoring deposits abroad and from sell-offs such as Piraeus port, regional airports

By Nikos Roussanoglou

The European Commission?s Directorate-General for Competition (DG Comp) considers the Greek state subsidies received by Cosco?s subsidiary in Piraeus to be illegal as they do not comply with European Union law.

Investors appeared indifferent to the start of negotiations between Athens and its creditors? technical experts on Thursday, as the stock market slipped lower, mainly due to the drop in mid-caps.

China's Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday it had no knowledge of any offer by Beijing for aid to Greece after Greece's deputy foreign minister said China had offered economic support even though Athens had not requested it.

Black Tuesday’s sell-off continued during early trade on Wednesday at the Athens bourse, with the benchmark down more than 4 percent at one point. However, most stocks managed to contain their losses, and gains by some of the previous day’s biggest losers, including MIG and PPC, limited the damage to a drop of just 1 percent at the end of the session.

The local stock market saw little reason to buy into Friday’s news of the country’s official return to growth, with the weak momentum abating but taking the benchmark just over 890 points while trading volume ended at the lowest level of the last seven sessions.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday issued a joint statement pledging to boost strategic bilateral ties following a visit by the two men to Piraeus, where Chinese shipping giant Cosco is seeking to expand its presence and which Li said could become “China’s gateway to Europe.”

Banks played the leading role in another bourse session as their gains buoyed the benchmark and the blue chip index higher, while the mid-cap slide resulted in declining stocks outnumbering those that rose on Wednesday.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,119.30 points, adding 1.56 percent to Tuesday’s 1,119.30 points.