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 | Wednesday, April 12, 2000, updated at 16:03(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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Greece Welcomes President Jiang's Visit: AmbassadorThe impending four-day state visit of Chinese President Jiang Zemin to Greece, the first ever by a head of state of China to the Balkans, reflects China's interest for stability and peace in the region.China, an influential country in the world, serves as a stabilizer in the international arena, said Greek ambassador to China, Ioannis Theophanopoulos, in an interview Tuesday. "We are very happy and proud that President Jiang will visit Greece, and it is important politically, culturally and economically," he said. During Jiang's state visit to Greece, he and Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos are expected to focus on bilateral political, economic, cultural issues. "We have good relations, and have cooperated well in international organizations," he said, calling 2000 the year of China-Greece relations. Greece's re-elected prime minister is expected to visit China later this year, the ambassador said. China and Greece, both ancient civilizations, developed cultural exchanges of a sort in ancient times, Theophanopoulos said, adding that in modern times, they have far more interaction in a variety of fields, including the tourism sector and contacts between women's organizations. "They are now like relatives," he said. Due to this, the two countries are able to further strengthen cultural relations and promote people-to-people diplomacy, he said. His embassy plans to arrange more cultural exchanges between the two sides in coming years. Moreover, Greece, a host country of the Olympic Games in 2004, is willing to share experience with China, which is applying to host the 2008 Olympics, he added. Theophanopoulos, who formerly served as Greek ambassador to South Africa, assumed his post in Beijing a year ago. He said he was deeply impressed with China's progress over the years. Theophanopoulos's busy travel schedule will take him to west China later, which he said will enable him to better inform the Greek business community of the situation as they seek business opportunities in China's western region. In return, Chinese business people are invited to attend a large-scale forum in Greece next month to collaborate with their Greek counterparts for promoting trade and commerce relations with other countries in the Balkans.
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