Greek President, PM praise China's role in addressing common challenges

"I believe that China, thanks to its great history and power, can play a significant role. That is why Greece as a member state of the EU appreciates China's cooperation as very important not only for Greece but for the EU as a whole," Pavlopoulos said.

He also said that Greece welcomes and supports the Belt and Road Initiative. This support is underlined by Tsipras' participation in the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, the Greek president said.

Wang said the Ancient Civilizations Forum, a Greek initiative with China as co-organizer, aims to take clues from ancient wisdom so as to deal with common challenges faced by today's world.

China will stick to the path of peaceful development while promoting new type of international relations featuring cooperation and win-win, whereby China will work with the rest of the world to build "a human community with shared destiny", Wang said.

The Ancient Civilization Forum is attended by both China and Iran as well as other countries representing major ancient civilizations throughout the world.

The other participants include Bolivia, Egypt, India, Iraq, Italy, Mexico and Peru.