The strengthening and deepening of cultural cooperation between Greece and China were discussed in detail at the meeting of the Minister of Culture and Sports Linas Mendoni and of the Minister of Culture and Tourism of the People’s Republic of China Hu Heping, who is making an official visit to Greece. According to today’s announcement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two ministers signed the renewal and expansion of the Cooperation Agreement in the field of Undersea Cultural Heritage, which encourages scientific cooperation and joint underwater archaeological research in Greece and China.

An extensive discussion took place on the establishment of the Museum of Marine Antiquities in the Shiloh building, in the port of Piraeus, in accordance with the concession agreement between the Ministry of Defense and COSCO. The Museum project is in the process of selecting a contractor for its construction, while the financing of the project, with a budget of 100,000,000 euros, has been secured by the Recovery Fund.

As Lina Mendoni stated “the relations between the two countries, Greece and China, are based on mutual respect for the ancient and particularly important cultures developed by our two peoples. In the framework of the Year “Greece – China 2021-2023 in Culture and Tourism” many joint actions were planned, which were not implemented due to the measures of the pandemic. Already, however, between the ministries, museums, cultural organizations of the two countries there is a dense program of actions, from the last quarter of 2023 to 2025. The scope for cooperation in the field of culture between the two countries is very large. The institutionalization of the “Cultural Dialogue” every two years, which was proposed by the Chinese side, can only have positive results. The establishment, also, of a Chinese Archaeological Institute in Greece, based at the Cultural Center of China in Athens, is a very interesting proposal which can proceed based on the current institutional framework. In the field of contemporary creation, important agreements have already been signed, which we can strengthen and expand.”

For his part, Minister Hu Heping thanked Lina Mendoni for her cooperation and acceptance of his proposals and emphasized that “we are ancient civilizations that share common characteristics. As Nikos Kazantzakis said, Confucius and Socrates are two masks that cover the same face: the bright face of human reason. We have to make even more efforts for our cooperation and the best way is to develop our cultural relations.”

The expansion of cooperation in the field of dealing with illegal trafficking and the repatriation of cultural goods was also discussed, with the organization of a joint scientific conference in the framework of the Forum of Ancient Civilizations, as well as the exchange of know-how and experts in the fields of conservation and restoration of antiquities , in which Greece is leading the way. Lina Mendoni noted that “the two ministries can work systematically in order to strengthen the protection of antiquities and combat their illegal trafficking. In 2019, the Greek people highly appreciated President Xi Jinping’s position on the need to return the Parthenon Sculptures to Athens, during his official visit to Greece.”

The working meeting of the two ministers was attended by the mayor of Piraeus Yiannis Moralis and the Chinese ambassador to Greece Xiao Junzheng, the director of studies and execution of projects of museums and cultural buildings of the Ministry of Culture and Culture Konstantinos Frisiras, the head of the Ephorate of Marine Antiquities Eleni Banou and the deputy head Dimitris Kourkoumelis, the architect-researcher of the Museum of Marine Antiquities Giorgos Tsolakis and officials of the YPPOA.