Premier Li Keqiang met with Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on July 4.
The Premier said that both China and Greece are ancient countries with long history and splendid culture. China and Greece have a deep traditional friendship and their cooperation develops fast, Premier Li said.
China and Greece should respect each other, treat each other equally, enhance high level exchanges, deepen political trust, expand pragmatic cooperation and achieve mutual benefit for win-win results.
Premier Li said that Greece has now completed the approval procedure of franchise agreement on China-Greece Piraeus Port Authority project, which lays a solid foundation for the expansion of bilateral cooperation. The Premier said that China hopes to work with Greece, developing the Piraeus port into a first-class harbor and logistic hub across Mediterranean, a pivotal gateway in China-Europe land-sea express line, and a door for the interconnection between Asia and Europe, all to bring tangible benefits to the people of the two countries.
Premier Li said he hopes that Greece could support the related cooperation, to promote the sustainable and balanced growth of trade, and increase exchanges in culture, education, technology and tourism, by making good use of abundant Greek cultural resources.
China highly focuses on the current situation in Europe, said the Premier, who added that China firmly support the integration of Europe, and insisted that the stability and prosperity of Europe accords with the interests of all related parties. He also said he was looking forward to the new round of the summit meeting between China and the EU, and expected the positive signal to be sent on consolidating strategic mutual trust, enhancing practical cooperation, and promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation.
Greece is welcome to continue to play a positive role in the development of China-EU relations, said the Premier.
Tsipras said that China is Greek true friend and partner, and they appreciate China’s support to get through the economic crisis.
Greece and China has similar development strategy and huge cooperation potentials, with the spirit of mutual trust and respect, Greece expects to deepen bilateral cooperation in all fields with China, he said.
Piraeus Port project is an important strategic project for the two countries, Tsipras said. Greece will join hands with China to make it a door for introducing Chinese investment and goods to the Europe, and build logistics centers and industrial technology parks to promote the upgrades of Eastern European railways, and China-Greece and China-Europe economic and trade cooperation, he said.
With the construction of leading Piraeus port project, Greece is willing to promote the bilateral cooperation progress in shipbuilding, finance, science and technology innovation, food trade, tourism, culture and education and it is also willing to play bridge role in China-Europe communication, and actively promote the development of their relations, he said.
They also exchanged views on the concerned international and regional issues.
Before the meeting, Premier Li Keqiang held a welcome ceremony for Tsipras in front of the Great Hall of the People. Vice Chairman of Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Wang Qinmin and other officials attended the ceremony.
After the meeting, Premier Li and Tsipras witnessed the signing of several bilateral agreements on trade, science and technology and tourism, and the two countries also released a joint declaration later.
