Cyprus aims to attract more investment from China by promoting its geostrategic position in the eastern Mediterranean and its status as a European Union (EU) member state, Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades said on Monday.

“I believe Cyprus’s geostrategic position, which lies on the old Silk Road, and the fact that Cyprus is an EU member, provide promising prospects for big Chinese companies to invest,” Anastasiades told Xinhua in an interview.

“We try to encourage the investment through contacts, incentives and policies as many as we could supply,” he said, adding there were already some notable Chinese investments in Cyprus.

He also wished success to the upcoming Belt and Road forum for international cooperation to be held in Beijing this May.

Anastasiades noted that he was very pleased with China’s help to the Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities to reach a solution aimed at ending the decades-old division of the countries, by supporting solutions in line with United Nations decisions.

“I would like to express my appreciation for China’s principled stance in the UN Security Council, which created close ties between our countries,” Anastasiades said.