Premier Li Keqiang sent a congratulatory letter to the 82nd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) and the activities of China, as an honored country in the 2017 TIF in Thessaloniki, Greece, on Sept 9.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras attended the opening ceremony of the exhibition and visited China’s pavilion.

Premier Li said, in his congratulatory letter, that in 1998, China attended TIF as the first honored country in the expo’s history, which built a new “bridge” to facilitate China-EU economic and trade exchanges.

“It not only has historical significance for the development of the expo itself, but also has opened up a new stage in developing China-EU and China-Greece relations,” he said.

“Over the past nineteen years, China and Greece have made joint efforts in deepening political mutual trust. Remarkable progress has been achieved in the exchanges and cooperation in various fields, especially the Piraeus port project,” the Premier said.

The Premier then noted the Chinese government was willing to work with Greece and other countries to better connect the Belt and Road Initiative with the development strategies of each country, in a bid to generate more extensive common interests, carry out mutually beneficial cooperation in a deeper level and promote the further recovery of the world economy.

Addressing the ceremony, Tsipras praised China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and hailed the development of bilateral relations in politics, economy, culture and other aspects.

“China, as the honored country at the TIF this year, indicates that bilateral relations have mounted to an unprecedented height, which will further promote the mutually beneficial cooperation,” he said.