People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

has an embassy in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

. The

Hellenic Republic Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

has an embassy in

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and three general consulates in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

Hong-Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and since 2005 in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. The

Port of Piraeus The Port of Piraeus () is the chief sea port of Athens, located on the Saronic Gulf on the western coasts of the Aegean Sea, the largest port in Greece and List of busiest ports in Europe, one of the largest in Europe. The Chinese state-owned CO ...

(under Chinese management since 2009 and majority Chinese ownership since 2016) is important from a geostrategic view for China, as it helps China's transactions with the whole of Europe. Thousands of Chinese people are living in Greece in the

Overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese people are Chinese people, people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 milli ...

context and approximately 1000 to 3000 Greek citizens are living in China. Modern diplomatic relations between the two countries were established in 1972. Today, Greece and China enjoy a very good relationship based on a solid foundation, which continues to be growing steadily. In the early years of the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

, Greece, like most other Western European countries, recognized the Chinese Nationalist Government of Chiang Kai-shek as being the legitimate governing authority of China, despite Chiang only controlling a

rump state A rump state is the remnant of a once much larger state that was reduced in the wake of secession, annexation, occupation, decolonization, a successful coup d'état or revolution on part of its former territory. In the last case, a government st ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

. In June 1972, in the aftermath of

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 until Resignation of Richard Nixon, his resignation in 1974. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican ...

's visit to

and the People's Republic of China's admission to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, Greece switched recognition to the People's Republic, cutting off relations with Taiwan.D. Chourchoulis, Greece and the People's Republic of China in the Cold War, 1972 – 1989
in ''Europe and China in the Cold War: Exchanges Beyond the Bloc Logic and the Sino-Soviet Split'', Brill, 2019, Edited by Janick Marina Schaufelbuehl, Marco Wyss and Valeria Zanier Today, Taiwan maintains a "Taipei Representative Office in Athens", which is active in organizing various events and making statements to the Greek media; however, Greece strictly adheres to a

One China policy ''One China'' is a phrase describing the relationship between the People's Republic of China (PRC) based on mainland China, and the Republic of China (ROC) based on the Taiwan Area. "One China" asserts that there is only one ''de jure'' C ...

, and Taiwanese officials in Athens do not enjoy diplomatic or consular status. The key period in the strengthening of bilateral relations came in the 1980s, when Greek Prime Minister

Andreas Papandreou Andreas Georgiou Papandreou (, ; 5 February 1919 – 23 June 1996) was a Greek academic and economist who founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and served three terms as Prime minister of Greece, prime minister of Third Hellenic Repu ...

sought allies beyond Europe and the US in his policy of confronting

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

over the

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

and Aegean disputes, and in this context courted China under

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

. Greek shipowners also played an important role, by ordering many of their ships to be built in Chinese shipyards beginning in the 1980s, instead of British, German and Japanese shipyards (as had been the case since the late 19th century).

Country comparison

History of bilateral relations

Ancient

Ancient Chinese people had contact with the

Indo-Greeks The Indo-Greek Kingdom, also known as the Yavana Kingdom, was a Hellenistic-era Greek kingdom covering various parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Pakistan and northwestern India. The term "Indo-Greek Kingdom" loosely describes a number of var ...

Dayuan Dayuan (or Tayuan; ; Middle Chinese ''dâiC-jwɐn'' <

LHC

: ''dɑh-ʔyɑn'') is the Chinese

Ionians The Ionians (; , ''Íōnes'', singular , ''Íōn'') were one of the traditional four major tribes of Ancient Greece, alongside the Dorians, Aeolians, and Achaeans. The Ionian dialect was one of the three major linguistic divisions of the ...

"), was described in the

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

historical works of ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'' and the ''

Book of Han The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

''. It is mentioned in the accounts of the famous Chinese

explorer Exploration is the process of exploring, an activity which has some Expectation (epistemic), expectation of Discovery (observation), discovery. Organised exploration is largely a human activity, but exploratory activity is common to most organis ...

Zhang Qian Zhang Qian (; died c. 114 BC) was a Chinese diplomat, explorer, and politician who served as an imperial envoy to the world outside of China in the late 2nd century BC during the Western Han dynasty. He was one of the first official diploma ...

in 130 BCE and the numerous embassies that followed him into Central Asia. The country of Dayuan is generally accepted as relating to the

Ferghana Valley The Fergana Valley (also commonly spelled the Ferghana Valley) in Central Asia crosses eastern Uzbekistan, southern Kyrgyzstan and northern Tajikistan. Encompassing three former Soviet republics, the valley is ethnically diverse and relation ...

, and its Greek city

Alexandria Eschate Alexandria Eschate (, , "Furthest Alexandria") was a city founded by Alexander the Great, at the south-western end of the Fergana Valley (modern Tajikistan) in August 329 BC. It was the most northerly outpost of Alexander's Empire in Central As ...

. These Chinese accounts describe the Dayuan as urbanized dwellers with

Caucasian Caucasian may refer to: Common meanings *Anything from the Caucasus region or related to it ** Ethnic groups in the Caucasus ** ''Caucasian Exarchate'' (1917–1920), an ecclesiastical exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Caucasus re ...

features, living in walled cities and having "customs identical to those of the

Greco-Bactrians The Greco-Bactrian Kingdom () was a Greek state of the Hellenistic period located in Central-South Asia. The kingdom was founded by the Seleucid satrap Diodotus I Soter in about 256 BC, and continued to dominate Central Asia until its fall ar ...

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

writes that Bactrian Greeks "extended their empire even as far as the

Seres Seres may refer to: People * Codruț Șereș (born 1969), Romanian politician * Ferenc Seres (born 1945), Hungarian wrestler * Francesc Serés (born 1972), Catalan writer * Georges Sérès (1884–1951), French cyclist * Rudolf Seres (born ...

(Chinese) and the Phryni". The

War of the Heavenly Horses The War of the Heavenly Horses () or the Han–Dayuan War () was a military conflict fought in 104 BC and 102 BC between the Chinese Han dynasty and the Saka-ruled (Scythian) Greco-Bactrian kingdom known to the Chinese as Dayuan, in the F ...

(104–101 BC) was a war between Dayuan and the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

. The Sampul tapestry found at the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

settlement of Sampul in

Lop County Lop County, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (, Uyghur language, Uyghur: ), also Luopu, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency ...

Hotan Prefecture Hotan PrefectureThe official spelling is "Hotan" according to (see also #Etymology, § Etymology) is located in the Tarim Basin region of southwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Xinjiang, China, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region to t ...

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

, has many

Hellenistic In classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Greek history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC, which was followed by the ascendancy of the R ...

features. Following the ancient Roman embassies to China recorded in ancient Chinese histories, there appear to have been contacts between the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

and several

dynasties of China For most of its history, China was organized into various dynastic states under the rule of hereditary monarchs. Beginning with the establishment of dynastic rule by Yu the Great , and ending with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in ...

, beginning with the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

(618–907 AD).

Theophylact Simocatta Theophylact Simocatta (Byzantine Greek: Θεοφύλακτος Σιμοκάτ(τ)ης ''Theophýlaktos Simokát(t)ēs''; ) was an early seventh-century Byzantine historiographer, arguably ranking as the last historian of Late Antiquity, writing in ...

wrote a generally accurate depiction of the reunification of China by Emperor Wen (r. 581–604 AD) of the

Sui dynasty The Sui dynasty ( ) was a short-lived Dynasties of China, Chinese imperial dynasty that ruled from 581 to 618. The re-unification of China proper under the Sui brought the Northern and Southern dynasties era to a close, ending a prolonged peri ...

, with the conquest of the rival

Chen dynasty The Chen dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Chen (南陳 / 南朝陳) in historiography, was a Dynasties in Chinese history, Chinese imperial dynasty and the fourth and last of the Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasties, ...

southern China Northern China () and Southern China () are two approximate regions that display certain differences in terms of their geography, demographics, economy, and culture. Extent The Qinling–Daba Mountains serve as the transition zone between ...

, correctly placing these events within the reign period of Byzantine ruler

Maurice Maurice may refer to: *Maurice (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name Places * or Mauritius, an island country in the Indian Ocean *Maurice, Iowa, a city *Maurice, Louisiana, a village *Maurice River, a trib ...

.Yule (1915), pp 29-31. From Chinese records it is known that

Michael VII Doukas Michael VII Doukas or Ducas (), nicknamed Parapinakes (, , a reference to the devaluation of the Byzantine currency under his rule), was the senior Byzantine emperor from 1071 to 1078. He was known as incompetent as an emperor and reliant on ...

(Mie li yi ling kai sa 滅力伊靈改撒) of ''Fu lin'' (拂菻; i.e.

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

) dispatched a diplomatic mission to China that eventually arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

(960–1279 AD), centuries before

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

's expedition.

Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...

, the Mongol-ruler who founded the

Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...

(1271–1368 AD) of China not only maintained correspondence with the Byzantine Greeks but hosted some of them at his court in

Khanbaliq Khanbaliq (; , ''Qaɣan balɣasu'') or Dadu of Yuan (; , ''Dayidu'') was the Historical capitals of China, winter capital of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty in what is now Beijing, the capital of China today. It was located at the center of modern ...

(modern

). The ''

History of Yuan The ''History of Yuan'' (), also known as the ''Yuanshi'', is one of the official Chinese historical works known as the '' Twenty-Four Histories'' of China. Commissioned by the court of the Ming dynasty, in accordance to political tradition, t ...

'' (chapter 134) records that a certain Ai-sie (transliteration of either Joshua or Joseph) from the country of Fu lin (i.e. the Byzantine Empire), initially in the service of

Güyük Khan Güyük Khan or Güyüg Khagan, mononymously Güyüg ( 19 March 1206 – 20 April 1248), was the third Khagan of the Mongol Empire, the eldest son of Ögedei Khan and a grandson of Genghis Khan. He reigned from 1246 to 1248. He started his mili ...

, was well-versed in Western languages and had expertise in the fields of

Greek medicine Ancient Greek medicine was a compilation of theories and practices that were constantly expanding through new ideologies and trials. The Greek term for medicine was ''iatrikē'' (). Many components were considered in ancient Greek medicine, inter ...

and

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

that convinced Kublai Khan to offer him a position as the director of medical and astronomical boards. Bretschneider, E. (2000), ''Medieval Researches from Eastern Asiatic Sources: Fragments Towards the Knowledge of the Geography and History of Central and Western Asia from the 13th to the 17th Century, Vol. 1'', Abingdon: Routledge, reprint of 1888 edition, p. 144. Kublai Khan eventually honored Ai-sie with the

noble title Traditional rank amongst European imperiality, royalty, peers, and nobility is rooted in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Although they vary over time and among geographic regions (for example, one region's prince might be equal to anoth ...

of Prince of Fu lin (

: 拂菻王; ''Fú lǐn wáng''). In his biography within the ''History of Yuan'' his children are mentioned by their

Chinese name Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethni ...

s, which bear similarities to the

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often given by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian name ...

s Elias (''Ye-li-ah''), Luke (''Lu-ko''), and Antony (''An-tun''), with a daughter named ''A-na-si-sz''. Τhe Sino-Hellenic contacts since Hellenistic times has recently been reinforced by the interdisciplinary study of prestige gold provided which a new interpretive framework for understanding trans-cultural contact between Han China and the Hellenistic world. The contextual analysis of the gold artefacts with foreign features presented in the current paper shows that the quest for exotica along with the desire for “heavenly horses” among the ruling elites acted as the driving force that led to an unprecedented extent of imperial expansion of the Han court in Central Asia, as well as the establishment of a vast trading network during the first century BCE. Today these ancient relations are unfolded and strengthened with the Sino-Hellenic Academic Project.

Modern

Korean War

During the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

the two countries were enemies and their forces fought each other. The Greek Expeditionary Force was part of the UN forces.

Andreas Papandreou and Deng Xiaoping

, who came to power in 1981, aggressively courted China as part of his policy of finding allies beyond Greece's traditional partners in Western Europe and the US to confront

over the

and Aegean disputes. His April 1986 visit to

, followed by the visit to

of Chinese Premier

Zhao Ziyang Zhao Ziyang; pronounced (17 October 1919 – 17 January 2005) was a Chinese politician. He served as the 3rd premier of China from 1980 to 1987, as vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 1981 to 1982, and as the CCP general ...

(the first such visit by a Chinese head of government), were important milestones in developing bilateral relations. Although Papandreou was able to earn diplomatic support from Chinese paramount leader

on some of his initiatives, the more long-lasting impact of this visit was felt in the economic and commercial fields, especially in

shipping Freight transport, also referred to as freight forwarding, is the physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo. The term shipping originally referred to transport by sea but in American English, it has been ...

European Union era

China and Greece raised their bilateral relations to a

strategic partnership A strategic partnership (also see strategic alliance) is a relationship between two commercial enterprises, usually formalized by one or more business contracts. A strategic partnership will usually fall short of a legal partnership entity, agency ...

in 2006. China has strengthened its relationship with Greece, following the increased strain in the European Union-Greece relationship after Greece's bailout. Greece hosts the most successful

Belt and Road Initiative The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI or B&R), known in China as the One Belt One Road and sometimes referred to as the New Silk Road, is a global infrastructure development strategy adopted by the government of China in 2013 to invest in more t ...

Project port as of at least 2024, the port at Piraeus. In 2014, 78 Chinese citizens were among those evacuated from Libya by the Greek navy frigate Salamis. China thanked Greece for its help. In 2017, Greece, under Prime Minister

Alexis Tsipras Alexis Tsipras (, ; born 28 July 1974) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2015 to 2019. A left-wing figure, Tsipras was leader of the List of political parties in Greece, Greek political party Syriza from 200 ...

, prevented the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

from issuing statements condemning Chinese aggression in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

and its human rights record, moves widely attributed as a response to Chinese investment in the

. On the 12th of April, 2019, Greece officially joined China's '

Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEE, China-CEEC, also 14+1; formerly 17+1 from 2019 to 2021 and 16+1 from 2021 to 2022) is an initiative by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to promote business an ...

', becoming the 17th European Nation to join the initiative, making it 17+1. This move has further developed relations between China and Greece. The hope is for an Athens-Budapest rail line, going through Belgrade and Skopje. In 2019, the

Bank of China The Bank of China (BOC; ; Portuguese language, Portuguese: ''Banco da China'') is a state-owned Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational banking and financial services corporation headquartered in Beijing, Beijing, China. It is one of ...

opened its first branch in Greece. On the 8th of July 2021, the Greek PM

Kyriakos Mitsotakis Kyriakos Mitsotakis (, ; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician currently serving as the prime minister of Greece since July 2019, except for a month between May and June 2023. Mitsotakis has been president of the New Democracy (Greece), New ...

expressed Greece's appreciation of China's firm stance regarding a settlement of the

Cyprus dispute The Cyprus problem, also known as the Cyprus conflict, Cyprus issue, Cyprus dispute, or Cyprus question, is an ongoing dispute between the Greek Cypriot and the Turkish Cypriot community in the north of the island of Cyprus, where troops of t ...

. On the 17th of July 2021, Mitsotakis had a phone conversation with

General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Part ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

and he expressed his congratulations on the

100th Anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party Celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China ( zh, link=no, s=中国共产党成立100周年庆祝活动), or the Centennial of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党成立一百周年, link ...

. China currently has 67% ownership in the

through

COSCO China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. The company merged with China Shipping Group, China Shipping Grou ...

The role of Greek shipowners

Although China and Greece were enemies in the early years of the

, with their militaries directly confronting each other in the

, many Greek shipowners greatly helped the Chinese Communist regime of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...

during these same years by breaking the trade embargo imposed on China by most Western countries (Greece among them) and secretly carrying cargoes to Chinese ports. During the Korean War,

freight rate A freight rate (historically and in ship chartering simply freight) is a price at which a certain cargo is delivered from one point to another. The price depends on the form of the cargo, the mode of transport (truck, ship, train, aircraft), the ...

s rocketed as demand for supplies reached enormous heights. Greek shipowners made their tonnage available to Mao's government, in a win-win situation, as Mao successfully broke the embargo and secured vital supplies while the shipowners enjoyed excellent profits.Thomas W. Lippman, Crude Oil, Crude Money: Aristotle Onassis, Saudi Arabia, and the CIA, p.p. 52-54, The most prominent example was that of

Aristotle Onassis Aristotle Socrates Onassis (, ; , ; 20 January 1906 – 15 March 1975) was a Greek and Argentine business magnate. He amassed the world's largest privately-owned shipping fleet and was one of the world's richest and most famous men. He was marri ...

, who used American-made ships (the

T2 Tanker The T2 tanker, or T2, was a class of oil tanker constructed and produced in large numbers in the United States during World War II. Only the T3 tankers were larger "navy oilers" of the period. Some 533 T2s were built between 1940 and the end of 1 ...

s) of his private fleet (then the largest privately owned fleet in the world) flying the Honduran,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

nian and

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

n flags to transport cargoes to Chinese ports. In a similar operation coordinated with the Chinese Communist intelligence services, Onassis used his tankers to transport

petroleum Petroleum, also known as crude oil or simply oil, is a naturally occurring, yellowish-black liquid chemical mixture found in geological formations, consisting mainly of hydrocarbons. The term ''petroleum'' refers both to naturally occurring un ...

to China, in ships flying the

Saudi flag The national flag of Saudi Arabia is a green background with Arabic inscription and a sword in white. The inscription is the Islamic creed, or ''shahada'': "There is no deity but God; Muhammad is the Messenger of God". The current design has been ...

Cultural connections

The cultural relationship between China and Greece is based on the mutual respect that both countries are ancient civilizations. The cultural cooperation between the two countries is also based on cultural cooperation agreements and cultural exchange plans. In 1978, China and Greece signed the “China-Greece Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Agreement”, followed by the “China-Greece Science and Technology Exchange and Cooperation Agreement” in 1979, and the “China-Greece Tourism Cooperation Agreement” in 1988. Since China and Greece have signed an agreement on scientific and technological exchanges and cooperation in 1979, they both have successively convened 10 scientific and technological cooperation mixed committees. The cooperation projects involved agriculture, energy, geosciences, oceanography, biology, medicine. In the fields of sociology,

materials science Materials science is an interdisciplinary field of researching and discovering materials. Materials engineering is an engineering field of finding uses for materials in other fields and industries. The intellectual origins of materials sci ...

and

basic research Basic research, also called pure research, fundamental research, basic science, or pure science, is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenome ...

, some cooperative projects have achieved research results and economic and social benefits. The two countries also have exchanges in protection of cultural relics, museum construction, and press groups. In 2005, the "Memorandum of Understanding on China-Greece Education Cooperation" was signed. In 2012, on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and Greece many commemoratory events were planned in both countries, such as a joint philatelic publication, circulated by the Greek and Chinese postal services. A variety of events were also organized including a Greek cinema week and an exhibition on the lives and works of

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

and

Lao Tzu Laozi (), also romanized as Lao Tzu #Name, among other ways, was a semi-legendary Chinese philosophy, Chinese philosopher and author of the ''Tao Te Ching'' (''Laozi''), one of the foundational texts of Taoism alongside the ''Zhuangzi (book) ...

. On 7 July 2021, Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Chinese leader Xi Jinping agreed for the "Greece-China Year of Culture & Tourism" to begin in September 2021 and extend to 2022 since it is a good opportunity to further strengthen relations and increase tourist flows between the two countries. On 17 September 2021, statues of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

and

were unveiled in Athens to mark the beginning of “Greece-China Year of Culture & Tourism”. Additionally, on 29 September 2021, the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports and its Chinese counterpart, the

National Cultural Heritage Administration The National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA; ) is a national bureau managed by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China. It is responsible for the national protection of cultural relics and the regulation of museums. History After ...

, launched an online exhibition (hosted by the National Archaeological Museum in

and the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in

Xi’an Xi'an is the capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populous city in Northwestern Chin ...

) presenting the Chinese

Terracotta Army The Terracotta Army is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. It is a form of funerary art buried with the emperor in 210–209 BCE with the purpose of protecting him in his aft ...

and the Greek

kouros Kouros (, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculpture, Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with ...

. The exhibition is the first of its kind in Greece. On 27 October 2021, the Chinese Foreign Minister

Wang Yi Wang Yi ( zh, s=王毅, p=Wáng Yì; born 19 October 1953) is a Chinese diplomat and politician who has been serving as Director of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission Office since January 2023, and ...

held meetings in

with leading Greek officials on Wednesday about deepening the two countries’ economic ties. He specifically met with the Greek Foreign Minister

Nikos Dendias Nikolaos "Nikos" Dendias (; born 7 October 1959) is a Greek lawyer and politician of the conservative New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy party who has been serving as Minister for National Defence (Greece), Minister for National Defence in th ...

and with the

Greek Prime Minister The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (), is the head of government of the Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Greek Cabinet. The officeholder's official seat (but not resid ...

. Wang, in his visit to Athens, noted that: "China and Greece are not only partners that benefit each other for win-win outcomes but also in particular, friends that share the same aspirations. China-Greece cooperation has been always in the front rank of China-Europe relations, setting an example for exchanges between and mutual learning from countries of different cultural backgrounds and social systems."

Bilateral visits

* June 2002

Prime Minister of Greece The prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (), usually referred to as the prime minister of Greece (), is the head of government of the Greece, Hellenic Republic and the leader of the Cabinet of Greece, Greek Cabinet. The officeholder's of ...

Costas Simitis Konstantinos G. Simitis (; 23 June 1936 – 5 January 2025) was a Greek politician who led the 'Modernization' movement of Greece . He succeeded in leadership Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), and s ...

visited China * January 2006, The

Kostas Karamanlis Konstantinos A. Karamanlis (; born 14 September 1956), commonly known as Kostas Karamanlis (, ), is a Greek retired politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece, prime minister of Greece from 2004 to 2009. He was also president of the Centr ...

paid a state visit to China * June 2008, the

President of Greece The president of Greece, officially the president of the Hellenic Republic (), commonly referred to in Greek as the president of the Republic (, ΠτΔ), is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the ...

Karolos Papoulias Karolos Papoulias ( ; 4 June 1929 – 26 December 2021) was a Greek politician who served as the president of Greece from 2005 to 2015. A member of the PASOK, Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), he previously served as Minister for Foreign ...

paid a five-day state visit to China * November 2008, a three-day visit of

President of China The president of China, officially the president of the People's Republic of China, is the List of state representatives of the People's Republic of China, state representative of the China, People's Republic of China. On its own, it is a Fig ...

and CPC General Secretary

Hu Jintao Hu Jintao (born 21 December 1942) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from 2002 to 2012, the president of China from 2003 to 2013, and chairman of the Central Military Comm ...

to Greece * June 2010, Chinese Vice-Premier

Zhang Dejiang Zhang Dejiang (; born 4 November 1946) is a Chinese retired politician who served as the chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress between 2013 and 2018. He was also the third-ranking member of the Politburo Standin ...

four-day trip to Athens * May 2013, Greek prime minister

Antonis Samaras Antonis Samaras (, ; born 23 May 1951) is a Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 to 2015. A member of the New Democracy (Greece), New Democracy party, he was its president from 2009 until 2015. Samaras started his na ...

five-day trip to China * November 2019, Greek prime minister

three-day trip to China * November 2019, a three-day state visit of

and CPC General Secretary

to Greece * October 2021, a visit of

State Councilor A State Councillor of the People's Republic of China () serves as a senior vice leader within the State Council and shares responsibilities with the Vice Premiers in assisting the Premier in the administration and coordination of governmental a ...

and

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

to Greece

Bilateral treaties

*China-Greece Cultural Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (1978) *China-Greece Science and Technology Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (1979) *China-Greece Tourism Cooperation Agreement (1988) *Agreement on cooperation between police forces (Beijing, February 15, 1995). *Cooperation Agreement on combating terrorism and drugs (Beijing, February 15, 1995). *Maritime agreement (October 16, 1995). *Memorandum of cooperation on management of marine resources and mutual scientific and technical cooperation (Athens, October 16, 1995). *Protocol on scientific and technological cooperation (Beijing, November 14, 1995). *Programme of cultural exchanges for the period 1999 2002 (Beijing, September 9, 1999). Extended for a further three years in March 2003. *Protocol on consultations between the foreign ministries of Greece and China (Beijing, February 29, 2000). *Protocol of the 8th session of the joint committee on scientific and technological cooperation (Beijing, October 16, 2000). * Agreement on the Cooperation of Forestry between the State Forestry Administration of the PRC and the Ministry of Agriculture of the Hellenic Republic (2002). *Memorandum of Understanding on China-Greece Education Cooperation (2005)

Investment

In October 2009

Cosco China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) was a former shipping corporation from 1961 to 2016, owned by the State Council of the People's Republic of China, State Council of China. The company merged with China Shipping Group, China Shipping Grou ...

leased for 30 years part of the

, the cargo level two years later was three times higher than before. In 2010 a $123 million contract between Helios Plaza and BCEGI, a subsidiary of

Beijing Construction Engineering Group Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) is a Chinese construction and engineering firm that has built important structures in Beijing and infrastructures and buildings overseas through international branches, in particular, an active subsi ...

, real estate company and construction contractor. Helios is developing a hotel and commercial complex for tourism in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

, Athens' largest port town. Huawei Technologies, a Chinese Telecommunication, telecom invested with Hellenic Telecommunications Organization. In March 2015 Deputy Greek Prime Minister Yannis Dragasakis and Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Kotzias paid an official visit to China on 25 March 2015. Within this context, Minister Kotzias met with the Foreign Minister of the People's Republic of China, Wang Yi.

References

Citations

Sources

* Beata Kitsikis - Μπεάτα Κιτσίκη - ''Γνώρισα τους Κόκκινους Φρουρούς''. Athens, Kedros, 1982. (« I have known the Red Guards ») * Beata Kitsikis - Μπεάτα Κιτσίκη - ''Αποστολή 1963-1964. Απ'όσα είδαμε στην Κίνα''. Athens, Fexis, 1964. (« 1963-1964. Mission to China ») * Beata Kitsikis - Μπεάτα Κιτσίκη - ''Ματιές στην Κίνα''. Athens, P. Bolaris Press, 1957. (« China Glimpses ») * Dimitri Kitsikis- Δημήτρης Κιτσίκης - ''Συγκριτική Ιστορία Ελλάδος-Κίνας. Από την αρχαιότητα μέχρι σήμερα''. Athens, Herodotos, 2007. ("A Comparative History of Greece and China. From Antiquity to the Present Day")

External links

Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relation with Greece Chinese embassy in Athens Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relation with China Greek embassy in Beijing Greek general consulate in Hong-KongYannis Dragasakis and Nikos Kotzias to pay official visit to China on 25 March 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:China-Greece relations China–Greece relations, Bilateral relations of China, Greece Bilateral relations of Greece Ancient international relations