Fifty years ago, Greece and China established diplomatic relations, entering in a new era that has led to great improvements in their common interests.

In the challenging new environment of international relations that is dawning, EU- China relations will hopefully be able to continue growing, for the benefit of all sides, and especially the relations between Greece and China, the two great nations whose people respect and understand each other since ancient times. This mutual respect and understanding needs to be translated into practical results in a more substantial way. Important enablers for this are academic and people-to-people exchanges.

It is for this reason that in 2016 the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, a Greek non- governmental cultural institution whose purpose is the promotion -- in Greece and abroad -- of Greek culture and especially Greek letters and historical and nautical research, as well as the operation of libraries and cooperation with Tsinghua University. Under this agreement, with ALF funding, a number of Tsinghua undergraduates and graduates have visited Athens and been introduced to Greek university professors, furthering their studies. Also, on a yearly basis, prominent Greek university professors visit Tsinghua University and lecture on China-Greek and China-EU relations. Within this framework, on May 15, 2019, during his official visit to Beijing, the then president of the Hellenic Republic, professor Prokopios Pavlopoylos, gave a speech at Tsinghua University on the contribution of the Greek language to the dialogue of cultures.

A very important area of cooperation with Chinese academic institutions was opened in 2019. On November 11 of that year, during the official visit of the President of the People’s Republic of China to Greece, ALF President Panos Laskaridis and the President of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences professor Xie Fuzhan, in a ceremony attended by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of Greece and President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China, signed an agreement for the setting up of the CASS-ALF Centre for China Studies. The CACCS, housed at the Foundation’s premises in Piraeus, works for the enhancement of bilateral cultural relations and develops a variety of activities, aiming at the promotion of Chinese culture in Greece and the production of scientific work in the fields of humanities and social sciences. Lectures, seminars and conferences are organized as part of its activities, as well as exhibitions focusing on China and Chinese studies. The COVID-19 emergency impacted the work of the CACCS, as research and academic and other activities had to be limited to remote work only. As the threat brought about by the pandemic to people’s health seems to be gradually ebbing, the CACCS work is starting to gain speed, in the aim of bringing closer academic exchanges from both sides, which plays an important part in the promotion of mutual understanding and bonding between Greece and China.

Today, fifty years after the establishment of China-Greece diplomatic relations, the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation will continue its work in the belief that, it is not only through economy and trade but also through people-to-people and academic exchanges, confidence and mutual understanding can gain enormously.

The author is general director of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation.

The author contributed this article to China Watch exclusively. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of China Watch.

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