BEIJING: Greek ambassador to China Georgios Iliopoulos has expressed his hope to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields under the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism.
“The China-Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) Summit is useful in promoting multilateral cooperation, as we now confront not only the pandemic itself but also its consequences in our economies and societies,” Iliopoulos said in a recent text-based interview.
The China-CEEC Summit was held via video link on Tuesday. The summit released the 2021 Cooperation between China and CEEC Beijing List of Activities and the Outcome List of China-CEEC Summit, in which many activities and business cooperation documents concern Greece.
“The summit has confirmed the importance of the goal of common growth with benefits shared by all,” said Iliopoulos, adding that inclusiveness, consultation and transparency were also reaffirmed as important tenets of China-CEEC cooperation.
In 2019, Greece joined the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism and became its 18th member country. Given Greece’s extensive institutional experience in the integration of the region into Europe and EU policies, Iliopoulos believed that it has the potential to contribute to streamlining and enriching the agenda of the China-CEEC cooperation.
According to the List of Activities released at the summit, Greece will host this year the 6th China-CEEC high-level conference on tourism cooperation and the 3rd China-CEEC experts’ forum on intangible cultural heritage protection.
“This is a testimony of our will to engage in the China-CEEC cooperation mechanism in a constructive and effective manner,” Iliopoulos said. Fighting the pandemic in unity was one of the focuses of the summit. Last February, Iliopoulos uttered his support for China’s fight against COVID-19. When Greece was under attack by the pandemic, China also provided timely assistance, including providing and donating medical supplies. – Agencies
