From September 1 to 2, Ambassador Zou Xiaoli and his wife visited the city of Ancient Olympia in the Region of Western Greece and met with Governor Mr. Apstolos Katsifaras and Mayor Mr. Thymios Kotzas.

While meeting with Governor, Zou said that in the past 43 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two governments and peoples have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and helped each other in difficult times. Recent years have seen the translation of traditional friendship into tangible cooperation results. The Region of Western Greece enjoys unique culture, and tourism and economic resources. The Chinese Embassy in Greece is ready to promote exchanges and cooperation in various areas between the region and its Chinese counterparts. The governor said that his Region has strength in farm produce, tourism, and culture, and is eager to carry out practical cooperation with its Chinese counterparts. He welcomed Chinese investment to his Region.

 

When meeting with Mayor Kotzas, Ambassador Zou pointed out that Ancient Olympia was the origin of the Olympic movement. Olympic cooperation is an important part of China-Greece cooperation. Ancient Olympia enjoys unique strength and sound foundation for carrying out cooperation with China in Olympic-themed cultural exchanges and industrial cooperation. The two sides should take the good opportunity of Beijing and Zhang Jiakou’s holding of the 2022 Winter Olympics to further deepen practical cooperation in relevant areas. Mr. Kotzas agreed on what the ambassador said and exchanged views with him on the specific ways of cooperation with China.

During the visit, Ambassador Zou also received interviews by local TV stations, visited the heritage site of Ancient Olympia and attended the International Symposium-The Need of A Constructive Dialogue between Peoples and Cultures and the Olympic Idea.