China plans new Silk Road

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao has completed landmark visits to Greece, Italy and Turkey. In Rome, Wen sealed agreements worth US$3.13 billion for projects including solar power and broadband internet.
In Ankara, he signed an agreement for the joint construction of 4,500 kilometers  of Turkish railway.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the project "a new Silk Road," a reference to the centuries-old trade network that has linked the Asian and Mediterranean worlds.
In Greece, Wen promised to buy Greek bonds as soon as the debt-hit country returns to markets, China Post reported.
Chinese shipping giant Cosco is already expanding container facilities at the main harbor, Piraeus, just outside Athens.
During his visit to Athens — the first by a Chinese prime minister in 24 years — Wen said the number of containers through Piraeus would rise this year to 800,000 and reach 3.7 million by 2015.