Aerial photo taken on Feb. 15, 2019 shows the COSCO Shipping Pisces, one of the world's largest container ships with a capacity of 20,000 TEU, approaching Piraeus port, Greece. (Xinhua/Wu Lu)
In August 2018, Greece became the first developed European country to sign with China a Memorandum of Understanding to jointly advance the construction of the Belt and Road. In April this year, Greece joined the cooperation mechanism between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) as a full member.
The Greek moves have enabled platforms for furthering bilateral ties, Zhang said, and its development strategy to build a regional hub of connectivity is in line with what the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism are meant.
With progress being made in the BRI cooperation on sectors including infrastructure, transport, energy, communications and finance, bilateral cooperation has become a paradigm for mutually beneficial cooperation between countries with win-win results, said the ambassador, adding that frequent cultural and people-to-people exchanges have consolidated the foundation for the development of China-Greece ties.
Xi's upcoming state visit to Greece will mark a new chapter to be opened in the development of bilateral ties, Zhang noted.
