On September 30, 2022, Ambassador Xiao Junzheng of the Chinese Embassy in Greece made a special trip to visit Amalia Matiatou, a major founder of the Greek-Chinese Friendship Association and the chairperson of the Association, and presented her with the "Outstanding Contribution Award for the 50th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and Greece".

Ambassador Xiao, on behalf of all the staff members of the Chinese Embassy in Greece, extended sincere greetings to Matiatou and said, "You are an old friend and a good friend of the Chinese people. You are also a witness and practitioner of China-Greece friendship. For more than 60 years, you have been committed to the cause of China-Greece friendship. You have been bustling about for the friendly exchanges between China and Greece and have made important contributions to promoting exchanges and cooperation in various fields between the two countries. The Chinese Embassy in Greece highly appreciates and expresses sincere gratitude for your and the Greek-Chinese Friendship Association's long-term dedication to promoting China-Greece friendship. On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Greece this year, we specially present you with the 'Outstanding Contribution Award'."

Matiatou thanked Ambassador Xiao Junzheng for his visit and, on behalf of the Greek-Chinese Friendship Association, extended the warmest and most sincere National Day blessings to the friendly Chinese people. She said that she was extremely proud to receive the "Outstanding Contribution Award" on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries and thanked the ambassador for personally coming to her home to present the award. Ms. Matiatou also affectionately recalled many unforgettable moments when the Greek-Chinese Friendship Association has promoted friendly exchanges between Greece and China over the decades. She said that her deep love for China, her "second hometown", has not diminished at all and she is willing to continue to contribute to the relations between the two countries and the friendship between the people of the two countries.

As a pioneer in the friendly exchanges between China and Greece, Matiatou has witnessed New China growing from being extremely poor and backward at its founding to becoming a creator of "world miracles". In 1956, the Greek folk friendship delegation where Matiatou was a member visited New China for the first time via Moscow, and since then, she has formed an indissoluble bond with China. During the visit to China, Chairman Mao Zedong cordially received Matiatou and her delegation, praising them as friendly envoys of the two peoples and encouraging them to do more work for the friendly exchanges between the two peoples.

(Source: Oct 1, 2022, Website of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This article has been abridged. Editor's note: Matiatou is also the Chairperson of the Euro-Chinese Centre for Research and Development, an EU think tank.)

Translated by Gao Xiaotong