Shanghai :The Chinese are keen to invest in new terminals, docks, yards, logistics platforms and industrial areas in the northern Italian port, given its deeper integration into EU rail networks than Piraeus, the Greek port taken over by Cosco in 2016
A seaport city of just over 200,000 residents in northeast Italy could play a significant geopolitical role in promoting Eurasian integration. The port of Trieste is only the 11th busiest in Europe by tonnage, but nonetheless is designed to become the western end of the Maritime Silk Road, a key section of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative to improve connectivity between China and Western Europe.
Zeno D’Agostino, president of the Port Network Authority of the Eastern Adriatic Sea, the public company that runs Trieste port and other facilities in the area, told Asia Times that the Chinese were ready to invest in the infrastructure. “They have been attracted by Trieste’s geographic position, strong connectivity with the rest of Europe and robust supply chain,” he said.
