China Media Group (CMG) has reached cooperation agreements with the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations (CCGAC) and the International Olympic Academy (IOA). CMG President Shen Haixiong signed memorandums with Stelios Virvidakis, head of the Greek board of directors in CCGAC, and the IOA President Isidoros Kouvelos in Athens, Greece, on Saturday.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sent his congratulations on the new partnership between CMG and the IOA via Alternate Minister for Sport Giannis Vroutsis. He expressed hope that the Olympic values can continue to thrive in China.

Shen told Virvidakis that Greek mythology, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle are almost on everyone's lips in China. The CCGAC will work as a bridge for China and Greece, two civilizations with a long history, to exchange and merge with each other, Shen said. CMG is willing to work with the CCGCA to tell the stories of the cooperation between the two countries under the Belt and Road Initiative and promote mutual understanding and trust between the Chinese and Greek people, explore the wisdom in the two civilizations and infuse new force into the building of community of common destiny, Shen added.

Virvidakis said the CCGAC is the first agency built by China and Greece to advocate communication between the two civilizations. He expressed hope that the CCGAC and CMG can deepen their cooperation in sharing information, collaborating to make programs and enhancing the innovation and application of technologies among other fronts. Virvidakis said he believes CMG's influence will promote more personnel exchange between the two countries and enable the two sides to achieve more accomplishments in cooperation.

In Shen's meeting with Kouvelos, he recalled that China and Greece have been supporting and working with each other closely in promoting the development of Olympic culture. CMG has recently reached new cooperation agreements with both the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Shen said. He promised that CMG will present more top-notch sports and cultural programs with world-class technologies and creativity to attract more youngsters to the Olympic culture.

Kouvelos recalled the passion and love the Greek delegation felt from Chinese people during the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008. He spoke highly of China's performances in hosting the Summer Olympics in 2008 and the Winter Olympics in 2022. He said the IOA, which has provided training sessions on Olympic culture to over 110,000 youngsters all over the world, has great prospects in cooperation with CMG, which has seen its international influence grow stronger year by year.