Production Reconstruction, Environment and Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who met in Athens yesterday with Chinese Ambassador to Greece, Xiali Zou, pitched the prospect of participation by Chinese energy firms in the second round of an ongoing tender offering exploration and exploitation rights to twenty offshore blocks in the Ionian Sea and south of Crete.

Closer cooperation between the two nations was an agenda priority for both officials, the energy sector being the main focus.

Lafazanis told the diplomat that participation in the tender by Chinese companies would not only stand as an important development for Greece but for the Chinese companies as well, as any hydrocarbon deal here would offer China unprecedented presence in Europe, in the hydrocarbon sector.

Xiali Zou expressed interest and noted he would fully inform Chinese energy companies of the Greek tender. The two officials also agreed that an effort would be made to organize visits by Chinese energy company officials to Athens for in-depth discussions on the tender.