After Piraeus Port, COSCO now eyes Greek trains to build Europe hub

Shanghai

CHINA'S COSCO Group is expected to make an offer for Greece's rail network after becoming the sole bidder for the country's largest port, two people familiar with the matter said late last week, as the state-owned shipping giant forges ahead with a plan to build a European transhipment hub.

Buying TrainOSE and Piraeus Port would give COSCO maritime connections to the Suez Canal and rail links to the Balkans and Central and Eastern Europe.

Bolstered by last December's merger with China Shipping Group, COSCO's focus on Greece is about building market share at a time of anguish in a bruised and oversupplied shipping sector, industry sources said.

It also fits in with China's "One Belt, One Road" policy of building a modern Silk Road to boost trade and create an outlet for Chinese industrial powerhouses caught up in the…