Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with the Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China Li Chiang . The meeting took place at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, as part of the Prime Minister's official visit to China.
At the start of their meeting, Kyriakos Mitsotakis stated: "Mr. Prime Minister, first of all I would like to thank you warmly, on behalf of our delegation, for your very warm welcome on this beautiful autumn day in Beijing. I am really glad to be here with you today."
"My visit reflects the importance we attach to this bilateral relationship. First of all, I would like to express my condolences on the death of Mr. Li Keqiang, former Premier of the People's Republic of China.
"I would like to repeat what you mentioned: that our bilateral relations are at a very good level. I would like to remind that last year we celebrated the 50th anniversary of our diplomatic relations.
"During these years, I believe we have built a strong, mutually beneficial relationship based on respect and understanding and guided by the fundamental principles and values of the United Nations Charter.
"Our two countries are linked by a very stable institutional framework that includes a series of agreements and memoranda of understanding. And of course, the most important document is the Strategic Partnership, the Integrated Strategic Partnership, which was signed 15 years ago.
"I still have very good memories both of my visit to Shanghai, when I had the opportunity to meet you in a different capacity, and also of the very important visit that President Xi made to Greece in 2019. I would like to point out that we greatly appreciate the recent upgrade of my country's credit rating by two of the largest Chinese rating agencies.
"This is a tangible sign of the confidence of Chinese investors in the progress of the Greek economy and its prospects, and we hope that this meeting will be a springboard to continue attracting Chinese investments to Greece and to further strengthen the economic cooperation between our two countries.
"I would like to point out that we continue to count on China as a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council to continue to promote world peace and the rules-based international order.
"I believe that our two countries, as cradles of ancient civilizations, can work together to address global issues and global environmental challenges, especially climate change, which is an area in which China has made significant progress in recent years.
"Finally, let me point out that we have a very strong cooperation in the field of culture, as you would expect.
"We represent two of the most ancient civilizations. As you know, the Minister of Culture of Greece was very recently in Beijing and this visit demonstrated the broad scope and strong ties that connect our two countries from a cultural point of view.
"Dear Prime Minister, allow me to thank you again for this very warm welcome, and we look forward to a very productive discussion."
Shortly after, the prime minister laid a wreath at the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square.
The prime minister is making a lightning visit to China, during which he has meetings with the Chinese leadership. After Li Chiang, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will meet with President Xi Jinping and National People's Congress Chairman Zhao Leji.
The official visit of the Greek prime minister to the large Asian country had been planned for a long time. Aside from Beijing, Mitsotakis was also planning to visit Shanghai for the CIIE exhibition (China International Import Expo), where there is a Greek stand in which 20 Greek companies participate.
However, due to the developments in the Eastern Mediterranean, the prime minister will return to Athens immediately after the meetings with the Chinese political leadership.
He will be represented at the Shanghai Exhibition by the Minister of Transport, Christos Staikouras and the Under-Secretary of Foreign Affairs responsible for Economic Extraversion, Kostas Fragogiannis, who will accompany him.
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According to government sources, the visit to Beijing is expected to be an opportunity to discuss issues of bilateral cooperation and issues of regional and international interest, focusing on developments in the Middle East and the latest developments in Ukraine.
It is noted that China is a member of the UN Security Council and can play an important role in regional and international security issues and maintaining international peace and stability.
The same sources report Greece seeks to strengthen bilateral trade relations and increase Greek exports to China, particularly in agricultural and standardised products. There is also scope for further strengthening ties in tourism, as China is a large market.
The visit, they note, takes place after the upgrade of the Greek economy to investment grade by S&P.
At the same time, it is pointed out that recently, two of the largest Chinese rating agencies, Lianhe Credit and Chengxin Rating Group, upgraded the creditworthiness of our country to investment grade.
The Greek prime minister will emphasise to his interlocutors that open communication channels with China and cooperation in dealing with global challenges, such as climate change, are necessary to construct mutually beneficial relations.
Greece maintains good relations with China, while due to cultural ties and geopolitical position, it can act as a bridge between the E.U. and China for a more balanced relationship.
As Kyriakos Mitsotakis mentioned recently, China is a competitor, and this is the position of the European Union in the context of the economic security of the EU.
Addressing global geopolitical challenges, de-risking relations with China and reducing dependence on critical raw materials are promoted. At the same time, the trade deficit of the E.U. against China reached 400 billion euros.
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