On the afternoon of December 8, George Papandreou, Former Prime Minister of Greece and the President of Socialist International, gave a lecture at the 30th forum of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY), with the theme of "Belt and Road Initiative and China-EU Cooperation: From the Greek Perspective".

Mr. Papandreou pointed out in his speech that the engine driving the world economic growth has been transferred from the West to the East, in which China`s decision on the future development will have a profound impact on the world. 

He highly praised President Xi Jinping`s initiative on building a community of shared future for humankind that, unlike Trump`s "America First", China considers the national interest from a global perspective and closely links its own interests with the regional development and the common prosperity of the world. The "Belt and Road Initiative" is a significant contribution made by China to the world because it can effectively contribute to worldwide mutually beneficial cooperation and push globalization toward a more open and balanced direction of development.

During the seminar, the participating guests conducted discussions enthusiastically. The guests generally agreed that both China and Greece have a long history of brilliant civilizations and share many common values. The socialist ideology has a solid foundation in Greece and China. 

In response to guests` questions, Mr. Papandreou indicated that the superiority of the socialist system with Chinese characteristics lies in the important role of the government in macroeconomic regulation, avoiding the abduction of policies by transnational capital and interest groups.

John Ross, Former Director of Economic and Business Policy of London and Senior Fellow of Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY), Han Hua, a Research Fellow with RDCY, Zhou Rong, Senior Fellow of RDCY, Teng Jimeng, Associate Professor of Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU) and English Advisor to RDCY, and Sun Binghui, Researcher of China Center for Contemporary World Studies, also attended the seminar, which was hosted by Yang Qingqing, Committee Member and Director of Research Cooperation Department of RDCY.

>>>George Papandreou: Greece holds welcoming attitude to B&R integration