Wednesday, March 02, 2011

The "business side" of the Chinese evacuation from Libya

Yesterday four Chinese air force IL-76s arrived in Khartoum airport , their job is to extract the last Chinese stragglers from a military airbase in Southern Libya (here)

Interestingly enough, it is the same airport China has planned to invest 1.2Billion USD in. (here). While extending a letter of appreciation to the Greek Prime Minster for his nation's help in the evacuation of the Chinese citizens, Premier Wen offers a financial boost to the Greek shippers.

Business and war, they go hand-in-hand.

China Willing to Boost Ship Financing Fund for Greek Shippers
By Paul Tugwell - Feb 28, 2011 6:16 AM PT

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-28/china-willing-to-boost-ship-financing-fund-for-greek-shippers.html


China is willing to strengthen a fund designed to help provide lending to Greek ship owners who wish to order new vessels from Chinese yards, Greece’s Maritime Affairs Minister Yiannis Diamantidis said.

China has expressed willingness to increase the size of the fund to between $8 billion and $10 billion, the Minister said during a visit to China, according to a statement on the website of the Piraeus-based Maritime Affairs Ministry.

China also acknowledges Greece’s request for a corresponding increase in the hiring of Greek-owned ships by Chinese shipping companies, which will create a “win-win” situation for Greek ship owners, according to the statement.

A $5 billion shipping fund will be set up to strengthen relations between the countries’ maritime industries and facilitate the sale of Chinese-built ships to Greeks, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in October during a visit to Athens.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tugwell in Athens at ptugwell1@bloomberg.net



Chinese workers evacuated from Libya arrive in Khartoum International Airport by a Chinese military transport plane in Khartoum, Sudan, March 2, 2011. The first batch of 250 Chinese nationals arrived in Khartoum Wednesday after being evacuated from Libya by Chinese military transport planes. (Xinhua/Mohmmed Babiker)




FFG530 at work





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