Papandreou: Belt & Road can boost EU-China cooperation

The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) should become a project of new relations between the European Union and Asia, former prime minister George Papandreou told Xinhua in an interview. There is much that can be done in Europe-China cooperation, and Greece has a positive role to play, he added. “The Belt and Road Initiative should become a project of new relations, building the new and future relations of the European Union with Asia and of course with China,” he said. Greece has a role to play, as it has “worked closely with China for many years,” he stressed. The former Greek leader cited China’s Cosco Shipping investment at Piraeus, Greece’s largest port, in recent years, as an example of fruitful cooperation between Greece and China. The investment for the port’s upgrade and expansion, which continues also in the context of the BRI, has helped cooperation between China and Europe, as Piraeus has been transformed into a major trading and transportation hub for goods both ways, Papandreou noted. “Greece and China, as ancient cultures, have a lot to give not only to each other, but to the world,” the former PM stressed. Regarding the prospects of bilateral cooperation toward common development and prosperity, he said Greece and China could work together in many areas. In addition to trade, the two sides can collaborate in areas such as the environment, tourism, as well as the exchange of traditional medicinal and wellness knowledge, among others, explained Papandreou.