ATHENS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- Greece and China enjoy such a long history of friendship and cooperation based on solid foundations that bilateral collaboration remains strong even during challenging times, Greek and Chinese officials said at the Delphi Economic Forum VII on Thursday.
"Even in difficult times, our cooperation and our bonds are so strong that it doesn't actually affect our relations," Ioannis Smyrlis, secretary general of international economic relations at Greece's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said at the forum.
The forum is held in central Greece between April 6 and April 9 with almost 800 speakers from around the world.
The volume of bilateral trade increased even during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. China is one of the largest investor countries in Greece and good cooperation with China is one of the Greek ministry's priorities.
COSCO Shipping's flagship investment in Greece's Port of Piraeus over the past 12 years has become a symbol of mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said Xiao Junzheng, Chinese ambassador to Greece.
"The BRI is highly compatible with Greece's strategy of becoming an international freight center and logistics hub," he noted.
COSCO Shipping has invested one billion euros (1.09 billion U.S. dollars) since 2010 in the Port of Piraeus, helping Greece's largest harbor rise in the worldwide ranking of container handling capacity from 93rd place in 2010 to 26th in 2020, said Yu Zenggang, chairman of the Piraeus Port Authority S.A.
The investment has helped the local economy and society and now the focus is on environmental improvement and digital innovation, he added.
"Green energy, infrastructure, shipping, healthcare and I think also agriculture and the IT (information technology) sector and lots of industries will be booming and the Bank of China will be involved," Li Shuping, general manager and country head at the Bank of China Athens Branch, said, stressing that he was confident in the prospects of Greece's economy and Sino-Greek cooperation.
Asked to comment on China-EU (European Union) cooperation in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Chinese ambassador noted that the crisis and the sanctions imposed on Russia strike another blow to global industry and supply chains.
China, the EU and the international community as a whole should promote peace talks, preventing this regional conflict from deteriorating, and should not allow attempts to politicize or weaponize the world economy, as such attempts would trigger serious crises in the global financial, trade, energy, food and industrial supply chains, the ambassador stressed.
China and the EU should jointly oppose unilateralism and protectionism and stick to free trade and multilateralism, he said. (1 euro = 1.09 U.S. dollars)
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