China Media Group organized the event “An Ancient Path to Modern Prosperity” – “Belt and Road” Dialogue between China and Greece in a central hotel in Athens.
The Chinese group was represented at the event by Shen Haixiong, Vice Minister of Publicity Department of CPC Central Committee and President of China Media Group (CMC). The former President of the Republic, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, Tourism Minister, Olga Kefalogianni, the Chinese Ambassador to Athens, Xiao Junzheng, addressed the event, while the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, sent a video message.
The event was also attended by the Regional Governor of Attica, George Patoulis, the president of Aegean Oil, Dimitris Melissanidis and representatives from the Greek financial, shipping, cultural, and sports sectors.
Greece and Belt and Road
“Greece is one of the most important participants in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) that was launched 10 years ago by Chinese President Xi Jinping,” Shen Haixiong said at the opening of the event.
Shen also mentioned that the ancient thinkers of Greece and China had similar ideas, and the Chinese are familiar with the words of the Sages of Ancient Greece, such as Socrates and Plato. “The various cultural activities launched are an integral part of the mutual exchange of knowledge between Greek and Chinese culture. We are inspired by the effort to explore the answers to the challenges of the world today, from these two ancient civilizations of Greece and China,” the Chinese official underlined. He added that CMG Group, one of the largest international media organizations in the world, will cooperate with various institutions in Greece to jointly promote the Greek and Chinese culture, build bridges for people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, which will contribute to the progress of the world culture and the creation of a community with a common future, strengthening peace in the troubled world.
Cultural and tourism cooperation programs
Culture Minister, Lina Mendoni, in her video message, underlined that the Greek Ministry of Culture promotes various cultural cooperation programs with China, such as the organization of archaeological exhibitions and the establishment of Greek cultural centers. “In recent years, CMG has achieved remarkable development initiatives, and I believe that cooperation with CMG is undoubtedly an important opportunity for the Greek Ministry of Culture to take Greek and Chinese culture a step forward,” the Minister of Culture stated.
Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni underlined that Greece and China share similar values as two ancient countries with great cultures. “Greece has natural beauty and a brilliant ancient cultural heritage. The tourism industry has built a bridge of friendship between Greece and people from all over the world. Over the last years, the Greek Ministry of Tourism has made significant efforts for tourism development,” Tourism Minister Olga Kefalogianni said and estimated that Greece will welcome more Chinese tourists to become ambassadors of Greece-China friendship.
Cooperation between “Naftemporiki”- CMG
On his part, China’s Ambassador to Athens, Xiao Junzheng, emphasized that mutual knowledge and exchange are basic requirements for the development of civilizations, which serve as a vital foundation for building a human community with a common future. “The cooperation between the media and cultural institutions from both China and Greece represents a valuable exploration to promote mutual knowledge between Chinese and Greek culture,” the Chinese ambassador noted.
During the event, the president of the Aegean Oil group, Dimitris Melissanidis, signed a memorandum of cooperation with the president of the China Media Group, Shen Haixiong, for the cooperation of ‘Naftemporiki’ with the CMG group, in areas such as the co-production of content in the financial and economic sector and the joint hosting of events. CMG also signed an agreement with the Greek satellite broadcasting platform NOVA to broadcast the CGTN English and CGTN Documentary channels in Greece.
