China has changed the Greek capital in both visible and less obvious ways.
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On the one hand, authentic Chinese restaurants – from spicy hotpot to Cantonese cha chaan teng – have sprung up in central Athens, where many patrons speak the northeastern Chinese dialect and work for China Ocean Shipping Company, an industry giant managing Europe’s fifth-largest port.
On the more discreet side, Chinese buyers have snapped up thousands of flats in a rush to apply for the Greek investor residency scheme, commonly known as the “golden visa”.
In June 2025, nearly 8,000 Chinese citizens – 7,795 to be precise – were first-time members of the scheme, meaning they had not yet reached the five-year mark to renew their permits. That represents 47.8 per cent of all first-time permit holders, making them by far the largest group, according to data from the Greek Ministry of Migration and Asylum.
Among the 5,679 people who had renewed their golden visa, 61 per cent were also Chinese citizens, the ministry reported.
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When the programme was launched in 2013, it mostly attracted applicants from nearby countries such as Turkey and Russia. But interest from Chinese investors exploded after the pandemic, as many wealthy and middle-class individuals – shaken by Beijing’s stringent lockdown measures towards the end of its zero-Covid policy – sought an escape plan.