China hopes Piraeus project to set example for closer cooperation with Greece: official

Visiting senior Communist Party of China (CPC) official Liu Yunshan said here Tuesday China hoped the Piraeus port project could become a good example for closer China-Greece cooperation.

China has treated Greece as a sincere friend and strategic partner, said Liu during a meeting with Greek Prime Minister and leader of the ruling SYRIZA party Alexis Tsipras.

Liu hoped the two countries could facilitate the integration of their development strategies, and set the Piraeus port project as an example for bilateral cooperation.

Greek parliament ratified the sale of the majority stake of Piraeus port to China's COSCO Shipping earlier this year. China expects Piraeus to become an important gateway into Europe.

Liu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, visited the port on Tuesday afternoon.

On bilateral ties, Liu called on China and Greece to advance mutually-beneficial cooperation on such fields as infrastructure, trade, maritime transport and tourism.

Liu also urged the two sides to establish exchange mechanisms on areas like Olympics, archaeology, film and television, and enhance cooperation on areas like museum, cultural heritage preservation, book translation, sports and Internet.

The CPC attaches importance to developing friendly relations with SYRIZA party, said Liu, adding the two paries should increase exchanges and learn from each other on state governance and development ideas so as to consolidate social basis for bilateral relationship.

Tsipras said the development strategies of the two countries are highly complementary. He also called on both sides to seize opportunities and achieve more substantial cooperative outcomes. Endit