ATHENS - A Taiji (Tai chi) center was launched Saturday at Greece's University of West Attica in cooperation with the Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (SHUTCM), making Greece the first host of an overseas university-based Taiji center.

University of West Attica President Constantinos Moutzouris and SHUTCM Vice President Hu Hongyi jointly unveiled the nameplate of the Taiji Health Center.

Hu stressed the significance of health promotion, as is also underscored by the World Health Organization, and noted that the focus is shifting from treating a disease to preventing it.

Taiji helps construct better health and make humans more resistant to diseases, he explained.

The joint venture by the two universities, which also had the support of the Greek embassy in Beijing, is in the context of a Memorandum of Understanding that Greece and China signed in August.