2013 August 10 « Dr Alf's Blog

Location of Cyprus within Europe and the European Union on the 1st of January 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Avakas Gorge, Cyprus. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Official seal of Polis Chrysochous (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: View from Akamas, Cyprus, towards its cape. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the many beaches of Polis. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Polis, Cyprus (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This morning, I was fascinated to see that my most popular blog yesterday was entitled: Hundreds of Chinese applying for residency | Cyprus Mail.

In Cyprus, hire cars have distinctive red number plates, and if you look carefully at the most cautious tourist drivers this Summer, you might well find that they have Chinese facial features.

Last night, we were in a popular fish restaurant in Polis, Cyprus, and noticed a Chinese family. The restaurant was at capacity and turning away potential customers. Of course, the tourist season is in full swing, with many local people on vacation but there are large numbers of Russians, the usual British, as well as an increasing number of Germans and French.

The Mediterranean coast from Polis, and nearby popular resort of Latchi, to the stunningly beautiful Akamas peninsular contains some of the most expensive real estate in Cyprus, being a popular mecca for wealthy Russians. Estate agents are still talking of the top-end of the market holding up well attracting wealthy buyers, and developers are increasingly targeting the Chinese with aggressive marketing. Incidentally, the other side of Polis, there is an exclusive home being built, where the cost, according to local knowledge, is circa EUR 40 million.

Despite the financial crisis in Cyprus, there are still very strong links with Russia, and Russian tourists. The latest growth opportunity, of course, is the Chinese. Wealthy Chinese have better European opportunities for shopping but Cyprus is seriously attractive for a home, residency, and as a jump off point to the rest of the EU.

In case you are interested, this blog has recently reported on important political and business links between China and Cyprus. Also there is growing global interest in the development of the Cyprus offshore gas industry which is potentially enormous, as well as the likelihood of offshore oil.

If you are interested in knowing more about Cyprus’ offshore gas and oil, open this link for earlier blogs (at the end of each page open the link on the left hand side for earlier posts)

Oh yes, one last thought, the popular coastal city of Paphos is planning to build a Confucius Institute, dedicated to Chinese learning, culture, and language!

Any thoughts?