June 12, 2002

The international symposium on the philosophy of Confucius and Socrates was held recently in Delphi, the sacred site of ancient Greek culture and religion. The symposium was jointly organized by the ministry of culture of Greece, the ministry of press and media of Greece, the Euro-China Centre For Research and Development and the Chinese people's association for friendship with foreign countries.

More than 80 experts, professors and scholars from Greece, China and France as well as over 100 people from all walks of life in Greece attended the symposium.

The seminar was reported by many Greek media, French media, and chinese Xinhuanet and CCTV news channels in time. This is the third international symposium on the philosophy of Confucius and Socrates. The first two were held in Athens in 1998 and in Beijing and Qufu in 2000.Experts published papers on the latest achievements in the study of ancient Chinese and Greek philosophy at a three-day seminar in Greece, jointly exploring the contribution and influence of Confucius and Socrates to human civilization.

The seminar was chaired by professor Vassilis Karasmanis, director of the Hellenic center for European and Chinese culture. He stressed that the seminar, held on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between Greece and China, is of great significance to promoting the cultural exchanges between Greece and China and strengthening the academic cooperation between the two countries.

Chen Haosu, the President of the Chinese people's association for friendship with foreign countries, said at the symposium that there are many things that need to be paid attention to in the 21st century, but ancient philosophers like Confucius and Socrates 2,500 years ago can still attract people to study and discuss, which proves that the vitality of philosophy is eternal.