Chinese, Greek presidents pledge joint efforts for community with shared future for mankind

ATHENS - Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Greek counterpart, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, agreed here on Monday to contribute the wisdom of ancient Eastern and Western civilizations to building a community with a shared future for mankind.

To that end, the two presidents agreed during their meeting to consolidate political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation and promote dialogue among civilizations.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said he resonates with his Greek counterpart, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, every time they converse, and that China resonates with Greece every time the two sides communicate.

"When drinking with a bosom friend, a thousand cups will still be too little," he said when meeting with Pavlopoulos, quoting a Chinese proverb.

It is because, Xi said, as two countries with ancient civilizations, China and Greece share common or similar visions and have achieved national modernization and development through arduous struggles.

The China-Greece friendship is not only the cooperation between two countries but also a dialogue between two great civilizations, he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that mankind should uphold and pursue noble sentiments, instead of egoism that advocates the pursuit of naked interests.

The Chinese people have since ancient times believed in such visions as "Don't do unto others what you don't want others do unto you," "the world is for the public" and "harmonious and peaceful co-existence of various nations," Xi said.

China will never ever seek hegemony and does not agree to a you-win-I-lose zero-sum game, he said, explaining that the Chinese people have neither such genes in their culture nor such ambitions.

China's development has always been a contribution to the growth of the world's force for peace, Xi added.

Xi arrived in the Greek capital of Athens Sunday for a three-day state visit to the European country.