China and Greece issued a joint statement in Beijing Thursday, announcing that the two nations had agreed to build an all-round strategic partnership.
 
Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is paying a three-day official visit to China at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao.

Karamanlis has met with Wen and will meet with President Hu Jintao, top lawmaker Wu Bangguo and top political advisor Jia Qinglin.

According to the statement, China and Greece agreed that their relationship has developed smoothly.

Their strong political relations and cooperation in various fields has yielded good results.

"There remains great potential for the two countries to further expand and deepen bilateral ties," the statement says.

The two sides promised to enhance political dialogue and personnel exchange at various levels in a bid to deepen their political ties.

The international community should deal with threats and challenges in the framework of the United Nations and solve international disputes by political means through negotiation and consultation, the statement adds.

The two sides agreed that the UN should undergo reasonable and necessary reforms to improve its ability to handle threats and challenges, but emphasized that the reform should be conducted through democratic consultation and in a step by step manner.

The two countries reiterated that UN resolutions must be respected and implemented. They also agreed to improve coordination and cooperation to improve the efficiency of peacekeeping missions, and push for substantial progress in arms control and the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

Greece said it would support China's constructive role in the six-party talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

(Xinhua News Agency January 20, 2006)