On June 3, 2002, President Jiang Zemin met with visiting Greek Prime Minister Constantine Simitis at the Great Hall of the People.

Jiang was very pleased to meet  Prime Minister Simitis again in Beijing and asked him to convey his cordial regards to Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos.

Jiang expressed satisfaction with the growth of bilateral relations during the past 30 years since the two countries forged diplomatic ties. He said that through the 30 years the friendly cooperation in various fields between China and Greece has been quite fruitful. Trade and economic cooperation have developed rapidly, and the cooperation and exchange in the fields of culture, science and technology have grown increasingly. Sino-Greek ties enjoy a sound political basis.  
　　
He also expressed appreciation of the understanding and support given by the Greek government to China on such issues as Taiwan and human rights, reaffirming that the Chinese government attaches importance to the Sino-Greek friendship. He said that as two ancient civilizations in the east and west, both China and Greek boast a long history, rich culture and remarkable contributions to the progress of human society, so that both countries can observe the world and handle problems with a long-term view. Jiang said that no matter what happenes in the international arena, China and Greece can understand each other and treat each other equally to seek peace, stability and development. Now that the mankind has entered a new century, China hopes to strengthen exchanges and contacts between the two countries in all areas to encourage the mutual understanding of the two peoples and better and fast growth of bilateral ties.

Simitis expressed his sincere appreciation to President Jiang for Jiang's meeting with him and his delegation just before he left for Kazakhstan to attend the summit meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia.  He hailed China's economic and social achievements since its reform and opening-up. He said that China's development is not only beneficial to the Chinese people but also significant to world peace and development. He told Jiang that Greece holds China should be an important polar in a multi-polar world, which will help maintaining global peace and stability. Simitis noted that Greece would be the rotating chair of the European Union (EU), saying that the Greek government wishes to play an active role in promoting ties between the EU and China.

Simitis also said that both China and Greece are countries with ancient civilization. He said that Greece attaches great importance to the development of relations with China and hopes to boost cooperation with China in all areas, including hosting of the Olympic Games. He said he is convinced that his current visit to China will definitely deepen mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries as well as the  Greek-China relations.

The two leaders also exchanged views on multi-polarization of the world, the international situation after the September 11 incident, the situation in the Middle East and South Asia and other global and regional issues of common concern.