by Maria Spiliopoulou, Valentini Anagnostopoulou

ATHENS, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- By holding the 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE) China shows its commitment to international cooperation in trade and globalization amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Greek officials and business representatives told Xinhua here recently.

The 3rd China International Import Expo (CIIE) will take place in Shanghai on Nov. 5-10.

"It (the expo) is even more welcome as the world tries to recover from the coronavirus pandemic. China has successfully combated the virus up to now and currently is seeing an economic rebound," said Betty Alexandropoulou, executive director and member of Board of Directors of Enterprise Greece, the official trade and investment promotion agency of Greece.

"While other countries are still struggling to contain the pandemic, China will have a head start in the global recovery, but ultimately global economic recovery will depend on every country emerging from the crisis and recommitting to free trade," she added.

As the agency and Greek enterprises are getting ready for the CIIE, the Greek official stressed Greece and China already enjoy a special relationship based on trade, investment and long cultural ties.

Like China, Greece is maintaining its focus on international partnerships in trade.

"Before the pandemic the Greek economy had entered strong growth rates. Our goal now is to resume that momentum once the world emerges from the crisis. The Chinese commitment to international trade and our shared success in managing the health crisis are bound to be important factors in the post pandemic global economy," Alexandropoulou said.

Representatives of Greek businesses in this year's event also praised China's management of the pandemic and commitment to international cooperation in trade and globalization.

"By holding the CIIE this year, China is showing its dedication to recovery, growth, opening up and trade and this can only give us confidence for the future," said Elena Apostolidou, export manager of Ktima Pavlidis, a producer of premium wines in northern Greece.

"It's crystal clear that the COVID-19 was well controlled in China and right now it's the only market that is fully opened. The open policy that we see in China will strengthen the international trade, offer more options for Chinese consumers and make China a key player in global trade," said Constantinos Liakos, general manager of Hellenic Agora Trading Ltd, a company based in Shenzhen importing and distributing Greek products such as wine, spirits and extra virgin olive oil in China.

While a second wave of the pandemic is unfolding in many countries, "China has successfully contained the pandemic with its decisive health measures and prevention plans, signaling a steady recovery which will definitely lead to its economy's positive growth," said Takis Skolarikis, vice president of Hellas Group, a group of major Greek trade companies in China. Enditem

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