ATHENS, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to Greece Zou Xiaoli has spoken highly of the first Ancient Civilization Forum which wrapped up Tuesday with ambition to enhance cultural and economic ties of the ten countries representing world's early civilizations.
Zou, speaking with Xinhua in an exclusive interview on Monday on the sidelines of the forum, said the forum, a Greek initiative with China as co-organizer, has realized the communication between the oriental and occidental civilizations.
The forum are attended by countries representing major ancient civilizations, with other participants being Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.
Zou said that the Chinese and Greek civilizations, which share a lot of similarities, have seen communications and exchanges at the forum.
"The forum, initiated by the Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias and supported by the Chinese side, has been an important achievement of the Sino-Greek cultural communication year," Zou said. "It also marks the coordination and cooperation in multilateral areas in international affairs."
The ambassador noted that the forum has been dedicated to promoting dialogues between civilizations and mutual learning from each other so as to advance the world's peace and development.
Zou said Greece, which has been in the debt crisis, has shown great vision in hosting the Ancient Civilization Forum.
The ten attending countries of the forum represent more than 40 percent of the world population and are at the center of international political developments in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Zou pointed out that the origin of civilizations and the history of human being's development could provide inspirations to the solution of the current problems including war conflicts, terrorism, extremism and vandalism.
"The forum is an innovative platform where the issues of culture and development are closely linked," Zou said. "The countries where ancient civilizations originated have shown strong sense of responsibility to explore effective means of cooperation and exchanges."
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