China's new silk road into Europe

But Katinka Barysch, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform, says that it was unlikely the Chinese investment in Greece will be of such a "vulture" nature. "The danger that Cosco will behave like some of the Chinese mining and oil companies in Africa is pretty remote … Greece is a member of the EU, so it has a much more solid legal framework. There are clear constraints about what foreign investors can and cannot do in our markets. The risk is more that these sovereign companies invest too quickly in trophy assets and then manage them badly or don't manage to make a profit out of them. But cash is very short in Europe now. So my guess is that the Chinese investment will not encounter too much political opposition. Where else would the money come from?"