Greek Prime Minister and the leader of the ruling Syriza party Alexis Tsipras (L) shakes hands with Cai Qi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee during their meeting in Athens, Greece, on May 7, 2018. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)
ATHENS, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister and the leader of the ruling Syriza party Alexis Tsipras told a senior Chinese official here that Greece sees the Belt and Road Initiative as a great development opportunity and would like to join hands with China for the development of the two countries.
During his meeting with Cai Qi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee on Monday, Tsipras said Greece upholds the policy of friendship with China and wishes to strengthen party-to-party ties between the two countries.
For his part, Cai said that in recent years the two countries had a lot in common in their development strategies. He said both sides had deepened political trust and expanded local-level exchange with yielded results in practical cooperation.
Cai said China is willing to promote political, economical and cultural cooperation with Greece within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, bringing the comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level.
He added that the CPC attaches great importance to the development of relations with Tsipras' Syriza party and wishes to strengthen exchanges between the two parties, contributing to long-term, healthy Sino-Greek ties.
Cai led a CPC delegation for a visit to Greece from Monday to Wednesday at the invitation of the country's ruling Syriza party.
During the visit, Cai also met with Greek Deputy Speaker Anastasia Christodoulopoulou, Tourism Minister Elena Kountoura and Athens Mayor Georgios Kaminis.
Together with Greek representatives, Cai attended several tourism promotion and cultural events during his visit. He also visited the Piraeus port project managed by China COSCO Shipping.
