The Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations was inaugurated in Athens， Greece on February 20 local time. Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan read a reply letter from Chinese President Xi Jinping to the members of the centers council， extending congratulations on its establishment. In his reply letter， Xi noted the “great historical and contemporary significance for the two countries to establish the center， which is committed to promoting exchanges and mutual learning between the two civilizations and advancing the development of civilizations of various countries”.

Attendees of the ceremony include Huai Jinpeng， Chinas Minister of Education， Xiao Junzheng， Chinas Ambassador to Greece， Panagiotis Pikrammenos， Greek Deputy Prime Minister， and Angelos Syrigos， Greek Deputy Minister of Education & Religious Affairs.

During his state visit to Greece in 2019， Xi and the Greek leaders jointly advocated exchanges and mutual learning between civilizations. After the visit， China and Greece acted on the consensus of the leaders and prepared for establishing the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations. Supported by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education， Chinas Southwest University led the joint establishment of the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations together with Renmin University of China， Shandong University， Sichuan University， University of Athens， University of Patras， Aristotle University of Thessaloniki， and the University of Crete.

“The establishment of the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations is the fruit of years of preparation by the two countries.” Zhang Weiguo， President of Southwest University， said. The preparation for establishing the Center began in the spring of 2020. At that time， the Greek Ministry of Education coordinated with the University of Athens， the University of Patras， the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki， and the University of Crete to set up the Center in Athens.

Besides， the Embassy of the Peoples Republic of China in the Hellenic Republic reached out to Southwest University in the hopes that the university would harness its strengths in literature， history， and philosophy， especially the time-honored research into Chinese and Greek civilizations， and would work with other universities in China to set up the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations for all-round cooperation with Greece.

In July 2020， Southwest University released the Plan on Building the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations， which received a positive response from Greece. Overcoming the setbacks from the COVID-19 pandemic， the university sent four exchange students as the first group to the University of Athens in October 2020. Based on the agreements reached with multiple Greek universities， Southwest University completed the legal procedure of the Hellenic National Academic Recognition and Information Center in 2021， removing the legal obstacles to the implementation of the joint project.

In the days to come， the Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations will uphold the principle of openness， sharing， and win-win cooperation， integrate the resources of first-class universities in China and Greece， and regard the joint pursuit of the Belt and Road Initiative and a human community with a shared future as its mission. International platforms of talent development， scientific research， and social services and a high-level think tank platform will be set up. Besides， the China-CEEC People-to-People Exchange Center will be built as a bridge that connects China with Europe.

The Center of Chinese and Greek Ancient Civilizations will make its endeavors in such key areas as talent training， scientific research， social services， and people-to-people exchange.

Source/Official WeChat Account of Chongqing Foreign Affairs

當地時間2月20日，中希文明互鑒中心成立儀式在希臘首都雅典舉行。國務院副總理孫春蘭宣讀習近平主席致中心理事會成員的復信，祝賀中希文明互鑒中心成立。復信指出“現(xiàn)在，兩國建立中希文明互鑒中心，致力于推動中希文明交流互鑒、促進各國文明發(fā)展，具有十分重要的歷史和時代意義。”

教育部部長懷進鵬、中國駐希臘大使肖軍正等，以及希臘副總理皮克拉梅諾斯、教育與宗教事務部副部長賽內格斯等出席儀式。

2019年，習近平主席對希臘國事訪問期間，同希臘領導人共同倡導文明交流互鑒。訪后，雙方積極落實領導人共識，籌建中希文明互鑒中心。在外交部、教育部等部門的大力支持下，中希文明互鑒中心由西南大學牽頭，聯(lián)合中國人民大學、山東大學和四川大學等國內高校，與希臘雅典大學、帕特雷大學、亞里士多德大學和克里特大學共同合作成立。

“中希文明互鑒中心是兩國籌備多年結出的碩果?！蔽髂洗髮W校長張衛(wèi)國介紹，該中心的籌建，始于2020年春天。當年，希臘教育部組織協(xié)調雅典大學、帕特雷大學、亞里士多德大學和克里特大學，在雅典成立“希臘—中國文明互鑒中心”。與此同時，我國駐希臘使館聯(lián)系西南大學，希望西南大學發(fā)揮在文史哲特別是中國和希臘文明研究領域的深厚積淀，聯(lián)合國內相關高?；I建一個“中國—希臘文明互鑒中心”，與希臘方面開展全方位合作。

2020年7月，西南大學提出《中希文明互鑒中心建設方案》，得到希臘方面的積極回應。2020年10月，西南大學克服疫情影響，選派了第一批4名交換生到雅典大學學習。2021年，在前期與希臘多所大學達成協(xié)議的基礎上，西南大學完成了在希臘國家認證委員會（DOATAP）的認證工作，為聯(lián)合項目的實施掃清了法律上的障礙。

未來，中希文明互鑒中心將本著“開放、共享、合作、共贏”的原則，整合中國和希臘一流高校資源，以共建“一帶一路”和構建人類命運共同體為使命，建成國際化的人才培養(yǎng)、科學研究和社會服務平臺、高水平智庫平臺，建成中國—中東歐人文交流基地以及聯(lián)結中國與歐洲的橋梁。中希文明互鑒中心將圍繞聯(lián)合人才培養(yǎng)、科學研究、社會服務和中外人文交流等方面開展工作。

文/重慶外事微信公眾號

圖/西南大學提供