On November 25, 2008, visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao met in Athens with Dimitris Sioufas, president of Parliament of Greece.

China and Greece are both countries with ancient civilizations, a long history and brilliant cultures, and the two peoples have forged deep friendship during the long-standing exchanges, he said. Since the establishment of all-round strategic partnership in 2006, both sides have witnessed frequent high-level exchanges, deepening political trust, expanding trade cooperation and more dynamic humanities contacts. The friendly and cooperative ties between China and Greece have brought concrete benefits to the two peoples, said Hu. The purpose of his current is to deepen friendship, build mutual trust, expand cooperation and seek common development, said Hu. The two sides have reached broad consensus on lifting the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership to a new high during the visit, Hu said, adding that China is willing to implement the consensus along with the Greek side. The Chinese president also hoped the legislatures of the two countries could continue to carry out various forms of exchanges at different levels and learn from each other in an effort to contribute more to the deepening of bilateral ties.

Greece and China, as nations with ancient civilizations, were birthplaces of Western and Eastern civilizations, respectively, Sioufas said. "We both have such great philosophers as Socrates and Confucius," he said. He congratulated Hu on the success of the Beijing Olympic Games, saying he was proud that the Olympic torch traveled from here to great China. Sioufas said Greece hopes to lift the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership to a new high and the Greek parliament will maintain high-level exchanges with China's National People's Congress and contribute to the development of bilateral ties.

Prior to the meeting, Hu Jintao laid a wreath at Tomb of Unknown Soldier in Greece.

Ling Jihua, Wang Huning and Dai Bingguo attended the above activities.