China sees Greek crisis as investment opportunity

Greece's debt crisis offers a good opportunity for Chinese companies to invest in the country as its privatises assets, the Chinese ambassador was quoted as saying on Sunday. An emergency summit of eurozone leaders on Thursday agreed a second bailout for debt-laden Greece, which includes a requirement for the country to sell 50 billion euros ($71.8 billion) of companies and other assets by 2015.
Luo Linquan told China's official Xinhua news agency on Sunday that the effect of the debt crisis on trade between China and Greece will be limited and Chinese companies should look for ways to benefit.
"Greece needs structural reforms and privatisation reforms. Some transport, new energy, power, water and other basic facilities will gradually be opened to tender by foreign companies," he added.
"These are projects that Chinese companies are quite good at," he said. Many bankers in Europe fear the Greek government's privatisation schedule, which is due to start with the sale of Europe's biggest betting company OPAP, is too ambitious and likely to be hampered by bureaucracy.
Luo said that while Greece faced many difficulties, "eurozone countries will not sit by and watch Greece's debt crisis worsen or spread".
China has repeatedly said it has confidence in the euro and in Europe's ability to deal with the crisis. China's Central Bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said on Saturday that China welcomed the second rescue package for Greece and would always be confident of the eurozone and the region's currency.
Euro zone leaders agreed the second bailout with an extra 109 billion euros ($157 billion) of government money, plus a contribution by private sector bondholders estimated to total as much as 50 billion euros by mid-2014.
The deal, which prompted ratings agency Fitch to declare Greece would be in temporary default, will also give the region's rescue fund broader powers to try to prevent the crisis spreading.