SIMIC

The pledge was made 4 September when Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis held separate meetings in Athens with Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

During the meetings, Yang, who is also the director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, said China and Greece are “true friends sharing weal and woe and good partners for mutually beneficial cooperation”, according to Xinhua.

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He recalled the two heads of state exchanged successful visits in 2019, leading the China-Greece comprehensive strategic partnership to a new historical stage. Yang also noted the two countries fought Covid-19 shoulder to shoulder, demonstrating once more the spirit of standing together through thick and thin.

He said China is ready to work with Greece to implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of both countries and inject new impetus into bilateral relations.

He also called on the two sides to continuously strengthen high-level guidance and cement strategic mutual trust, promote the synergy of the Belt and Road Initiative, and jointly build Piraeus into a world-class port.

Under the management of Cosco Shipping Ports, Piraeus has become the Mediterranean’s leading container handling port, the fourth in Europe and 26th globally.  The Cosco-managed Piraeus Port Authority (PPA) handled 5.65m teu in 2019 against 4.9m teu in 2018, recording a 15.1% rise and outperforming the ports of Valencia, Bremen and Algeciras and has marked a 70% growth since 2015. 

Leaders from the Greek side hailed the fruitful and promising bilateral ties, noting that the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic has brought the two peoples closer and highlighted the importance of mutual understanding and support. Greek officials said the country will continue to work hand in hand with China to fight the pandemic, expand two-way trade and investment, and advance key joint projects, including Piraeus Port.