Ren Huanyu
Chinese President Xi Jinping paid a state visit to Greece from Nov. 10 to 12. As the first visit by a Chinese head of state to Greece in 11 years, it has pulled closer the two ancient civilizations and tightened their bond of cultural exchanges and mutually beneficial cooperation.
During the visit, Xi and his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos agreed to consolidate political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and promote dialogue among civilizations, in a bid to contribute the wisdom of ancient Eastern and Western civilizations to building a community with a shared future for mankind.
The ancient Greek is the cradle of European civilization, whereas the Chinese civilization is also a symbol of the Oriental civilization. Great civilizations have much in common to offer each other, understand each other better and stand by each other. Sino-Greek friendship is not only cooperation between the two countries, but also a dialogue between the two major civilizations.
President Xi stressed that China and Greece should set an example of friendship, mutual trust, mutual benefit and win-win results, an example that promotes Sino-European cooperation in an open and practical manner, an example of cultural exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and an example of coordination and cooperation in safeguarding multilateralism, charting the course for the healthy development of Sino-Greek friendship in the new era.
Exchanges and mutual learning are essential to the development of civilizations. The consensus reached by the two heads of state on civilization exchanges and the resonance between the two countries in the civilization dialogues highlighted the visit.
As Pavlopoulos said, both Greece and China stand for the principles that different civilizations seek common ground while reserving differences, draw on each other’s merits, carry out communication and dialogue and co-exist peacefully.
The world today is undergoing major changes unseen in a century. President Xi’s visit has taken cultural exchanges and mutual learning between China and Greece onto a new level.
The two countries will keep giving play to their respective cultural advantages to blaze a path for harmonious co-existence of all civilizations and countries, and offer more inspirations for world peace and human progress.
China and Greece are taking concrete actions to show the world that they support dialogue and mutual learning among civilizations and oppose the “clash of civilizations” fallacy.
Both China and Greece are in a new historical period of national development, and their bilateral relations face new historical opportunities. During the visit, leaders of the two countries jointly made a new blueprint for the development of China-Greece relations.
Greece’s development strategy to build a regional hub of connectivity is gaining more synergy with the One Belt and One Road Initiative (OBOR), with expanding two-way trade and investment and deepening cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and the two countries have made new progress in investment, port, finance, energy and education cooperation.
The Piraeus Port is a successful example of Sino-Greek cooperation featuring complementing each other’s advantages, combining forces, and achieving mutual benefits, as well as an epitome of the success of the OBOR.
The two countries’ cooperation is a road that “will soon become a highway,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis told the Greek City Times, highlighting the strong impetus that President Xi’s visit has injected into Sino-Greek practical cooperation.
As an important EU member and Balkan country, Greece has played a vital role in promoting China-EU partnership.
During President Xi’s visit, the two sides pledged to jointly promote and deepen the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, and build partnerships for peace, growth, reform and civilization.
By enhancing comprehensive strategic partnership, China and Greece will actively push forward practical cooperation, such as the building of the Sino-European Land-Sea Express Line, boost the development of the Sino-European connectivity platform and set a good example for Sino-European cooperation.
At the same time, Greece’s participation in the China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) cooperation mechanism will also push for new progress in China-CEEC cooperation and effectively supplement the China-EU relations.
The two ancient civilizations of China and Greece have once again joined hands, and their joint efforts and deepening cooperation will reach achievements of civilizations that transcend time and space.
The two countries will together promote inclusive exchanges among civilizations and advocate for a more just and equitable international order, so as to make the two ancient civilizations radiate with new glows in the new era.
