Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras praised on Sunday China's role in addressing common challenges, welcoming Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the eve of the first ministerial Ancient Civilization Forum.

"We have the pleasure of establishing this forum of great ancient civilizations, an idea of the two foreign ministers of Greece and China, as the two countries have marked the world's cultural heritage with their ancient civilizations," Tsipras said during the meeting with Wang.

Monday's forum will allow the 10 participating countries to form a meaningful cooperation that could produce initiatives for the future, he noted.

"We are at a stage of very meaningful cooperation ... China is a very important partner for us," the Greek Prime Minister stressed.

Tsipras said he is very pleased to attend the upcoming Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, which will be held in Beijing in mid-May.

Greece aims to make itself into an international transportation hub and such a goal highly matches the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, he said.

Wang welcomed Tsipras' forthcoming attendance at the Belt and Road forum, during which he could discuss major win-win plans with the Chinese side and inject new impetus to bilateral cooperation.

Wang said cooperation over the Piraeus Port is not only successful economically, but also generates good political and social effect.

This year, Wang said, marked the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Greece, and both nations could deepen political trust and cooperation.

Greek President Pavlopoulos, during receiving Wang at the Presidential mansion, said his country looks forward to forging closer bilateral cooperation for the benefit of the two peoples, as well as the entire world.

"I believe that China, thanks to its great history and power, can play a significant role. That is why Greece as a member state of the EU appreciates China's cooperation as very important not only for Greece but for the EU as a whole," Pavlopoulos said.

He also said that Greece welcomes and supports the Belt and Road Initiative. This support is underlined by Tsipras' participation in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Greek president said.

Wang said the Ancient Civilizations Forum, a Greek initiative with China as co-organizer, aims to take clues from ancient wisdom so as to deal with common challenges faced by today's world.

China will stick to the path of peaceful development while promoting new type of international relations featuring cooperation and win-win, whereby China will work with the rest of the world to build "a human community with shared destiny", Wang said.

The Ancient Civilization Forum is attended by both China and Iran as well as other countries representing major ancient civilizations throughout the world.

The other participants include Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.

Source: Xinhua