China's top legislator pledges to promote traditional friendship with Greece

ATHENS -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji expressed China's commitment to carrying forward the traditional friendship with Greece and strengthening mutual support during his official goodwill visit to Greece from Wednesday to Saturday.

Zhao, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), met in Athens with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis respectively, and held talks with Constantine Tassoulas, president of the Greek parliament.

When meeting with Sakellaropoulou, Zhao conveyed to her the cordial greetings and best wishes from Chinese President Xi Jinping, noting that since the establishment of diplomatic ties more than half a century ago, bilateral ties have been developing in a sound and steady manner.

Zhao also noted that Xi and Sakellaropoulou jointly sent congratulatory letters to the inaugural World Conference of Classics, advocating the inheritance, development, exchange and mutual learning of civilizations, showcasing the sense of responsibility of two ancient civilizations.

Guided by the implementation of the important consensus reached by the two countries' leaders, China is willing to work with Greece to carry forward traditional friendship, firmly support each other, and be good partners that trust each other, seek common development and enjoy cultural affinity, jointly implementing the Global Civilization Initiative and contributing to building a community with a shared future for mankind, said Zhao.

For her part, Sakellaropoulou asked Zhao to convey her heartfelt greetings to Xi. The Greek president said the two countries have always respected and supported each other's major concerns and adhered to the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, which have laid a solid foundation for developing bilateral relations and deepening mutually beneficial cooperation.

As countries with ancient civilizations, Greece and China's cultural exchanges and dialogues are based on a deep foundation and have yielded fruitful results, setting an example for the international community of exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations, said Sakellaropoulou.

She expressed her hope to strengthen cooperation with China in areas such as trade, investment, culture and tourism to achieve mutual development and prosperity.

When meeting with Mitsotakis, Zhao said Xi's successful state visit to Greece in 2019 opened a new chapter in bilateral relations. China appreciates Greece's firm adherence to the one-China principle and is willing to work with Greece to consolidate political mutual trust, strengthen strategic communication, promote exchanges and collaboration, advance high-quality cooperation on the Port of Piraeus, drive cooperation in areas such as trade, finance and shipping and continue to deepen people-to-people exchanges.

China will maintain communication and coordination with Greece within multilateral frameworks to promote world peace and stability and drive the healthy and stable development of China-Europe relations, said Zhao.

Mitsotakis said that Greece abides by the one-China policy. The Greek government continues to optimize its trade and investment policies, hopes to strengthen cooperation with China in areas such as trade, investment, shipping, artificial intelligence and culture, and welcomes Chinese companies to deepen their presence in the Greek market, he said.

He noted that Greece speaks highly of the mutually beneficial cooperation on projects including the Port of Piraeus, and supports strengthening dialogue between Europe and China to jointly address global challenges such as climate change.

In talks with Tassoulas, Zhao said that, in conjunction with the implementation of the major strategic and development goals of both countries, the NPC of China is willing to work with the Greek parliament to strengthen friendly exchanges at all levels of the legislatures, learn from each other's experience in legislation and supervision in social governance, ecological protection and opening up, and timely approve or formulate legal documents conducive to bilateral cooperation.

Zhao called for close communication and coordination on multilateral platforms such as the Inter-Parliamentary Union. He also introduced the progress in advancing Chinese modernization, expressing readiness to move forward together with Greece on the path of development and revitalization, injecting new vitality into the two ancient civilizations in the new era.

Tassoulas said the legislatures of the two countries can make greater efforts in legislation to facilitate bilateral cooperation in economy and trade and shipping to promote cultural and people-to-people exchanges.

Before the talks, Zhao received a golden medal of the Greek parliament awarded by Tassoulas.

During his visit, Zhao also attended the launching ceremony of the Chinese School of Classical Studies in Athens and visited the Port of Piraeus. He also toured the Region of Crete where he visited agricultural projects.