An academic symposium was held on Saturday in Beijing in a bid to promote the Olympic spirit of friendship, solidarity and mutual understanding through discussions of the Chinese and ancient Greek civilizations.

The symposium was co-organized by the Department of Literature and History of the Chinese Academy of Governance, the Center for Classical Civilization of Renmin University of China, Beijing Sport University and Civilization Magazine. It focused on the theme "Civilization, Peace and Friendship－Dialogue between Chinese and Ancient Greek Civilizations".

Euthymios Athanasiadis, press counselor of the Greek embassy in Beijing, said via video link that both Greece and China are ancient nations and have bonded through a long history of friendship in terms of culture, science, education, sports and people-to-people exchanges.

The symposium was held ahead of the Winter Olympic Games, which will kick off on Feb 4, and the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries this spring, he said.

He added that the Winter Games will once again remind people of the Olympic spirit, which for ancient Greeks meant having "a healthy mind in a healthy body". For Greeks today, the Games are not about being superior by winning, but about improvement and overcoming limitations through determination in a peaceful manner while promoting fair play.

Cao Weidong, Party secretary of Beijing Sport University, said the symposium aimed to use the upcoming Games as an opportunity to connect civilizations and advocate the common values of peace, development, justice, democracy and freedom for all humanity.

Cao said both civilizations are great, diverse and integrated and have put great emphasis on sports.

"As instability and uncertainty in the world have become more prominent, the aspirations of all people for peaceful development and the need for solidarity and cooperation have become more urgent, requiring concerted efforts from all countries," he said.

"We hope by organizing the symposium, we can take inspiration from our civilizations, better embody the Olympic spirit and raise the voice of reason and peace for dialogue, understanding and solidarity between countries," he added.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou wrote a letter to Civilization Magazine in October in which she said that while the world is experiencing unprecedented challenges, "it is extremely important to draw inspiration from the Olympic Spirit, which could show us the way to work out, together, solutions for existing problems".