Deputy Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis will be in Beijing from 15 to 17 May 2011 to sign a Greek-Chinese joint declaration on entry visa facilitations for Greek and Chinese citizens at the countries’ respective consular missions and to inaugurate the Air China direct flights between Athens and Beijing.
On Monday, 16 May, Mr. Kouvelis will meet with Chinese officials and his counterpart, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Tao, with whom he will sign a Greek-Chinese joint declaration on entry visa facilitations for Greek and Chinese citizens at the countries’ respective consular missions. This Greek-Chinese agreement is being concluded within the framework of the EU-China Approved Destination Status (ADS) arrangement for attracting tourists from China, but is mainly a manifestation of the two sides’ desire to deepen the strategic partnership that governs relations between the two countries, as expressed in the October 4 Joint Declaration between Greek Foreign Minister Papandreou and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao – an agreement that followed Mr. Jiabao’s visit to Greece.
The signing of this Joint Declaration by Deputy Foreign Minister Kouvelis opens the way for broader cooperation in the sectors of economy, entrepreneurship and internationalization, tourism, cultural cooperation and scientific research. It is aimed at simplifying and accelerating the administrative procedures for visa applications, limiting the required documentation to what is absolutely necessary, streamlining the evaluation process, minimizing interviews and introducing flexibility into the acceptance of applications from non-permanent residents of consulates’ regions of responsibility, which is an important consideration given China’s size.
This important development coincides with the first Air China direct flights from China to Greece.
At 10:30 on Wednesday, 18 May, Mr. Kouvelis will arrive in Athens on the first flight from Beijing to Athens and will then participate in a special ceremony co-hosted by the Chinese Embassy in Athens and the administration of Eleftherios Venizelos Airport.
At 14:30 on Wednesday, Mr. Kouvelis will receive at the Foreign Ministry (10 Zalokosta St.) an eight-member delegation from the Pan-Chinese Union of Journalists, which will be visiting Greece for the 14th consecutive year, with the aim of gathering information on matters of bilateral interest and on the role played by Greece in the repatriation from Libya of thousands of Chinese citizens.
May 13, 2011