In a bid to increase investments coming into the country, Greece has been offering, for many years, a Golden Visa programme, a residency permit that allows movement anywhere in Europe's 26-country Schengen Area, reports Nikkei Asian Review (18 August 2020). Such a visa requires an investment of at least 250,000 euros in Greek real estate and must be renewed every five years. Parents and children up to the age of 21 can accompany the buyer of the property. Citizenship can be applied for after seven years. The program has granted more than 7,800 Golden Visas so far and raised more than 2.6 billion euros. And more than 70% of the investors are Chinese. "Chinese demand for Greek Golden Visas has not slackened, even though the number of approvals dropped this year," said Georg Chmiel, Executive Chairman of Juwai IQI,a top proptech group operating in China and Southeast Asia. "We expect Greece to win a Chinese buyer's market share from countries such as the U.K. and Spain, which have had much less success in the fight against COVID-19."
