Spanish PM upbeat about increasing ties with China

At a high-end forum opened in Beijing on Monday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez sounded upbeat about more exchanges and greater collaboration between his country and China in the near future.

"There are many opportunities for both China and Spain, and the two countries should be brave enough to seize them," Sanchez, on an official visit to China from Sunday to Wednesday, told the opening ceremony of the 9th meeting of China-Spain Forum.

In his speech, the Spanish leader invited various parties to strengthen cooperation and promote mutual understanding between the two countries through the high-end forum.

Spain and China have had extensive exchanges, and last year the two countries jointly celebrated the 50th anniversary of their diplomatic relations.

Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the nations' bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership, and Spain "will further strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various aspects", Sanchez said.

Speaking about the exchange of visits between the two countries, he thanked China for granting Spanish citizens visa exemptions, which are under a pilot visa-free scheme that has been extended to the end of 2025. Spain has yet to grant visa exemptions to all Chinese citizens.

He noted that tourism between the two countries fully recovered in the first half of this year and will exceed projected levels by the end of the year.

"Both sides should work together to enhance communication and work together to streamline the visa process," Sanchez said. "Our aim and vision is also to have more Chinese citizens visiting our country."

At the forum, Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong noted that Spain, as a major country in Europe and a member of the European Union, plays an important role in regional and international affairs, adding that Spain is also "a trustworthy partner of China within the EU".

Meanwhile, China will unswervingly improve its level of opening up to the outside world, he said.

"We welcome and look forward to Spain's in-depth involvement in China's high-level opening-up process, sharing the dividends of development and realizing mutual benefits," he said.

The China-Spain Forum was established in 2003 and has served as an important mechanism for two-way exchange, dialogue and cooperation. Eight meetings were held prior to the Monday meeting.

Francisco Riberas, president of the Spain-China Council Foundation, said Monday's meeting was "very special" for everyone present.

"Nine years have passed since the last meeting (of the forum in 2015)," he said, adding that "the recent years have been very difficult because we have also gone through the COVID-19 epidemic".

He underlined the need to use such dialogues to "maintain the promotion of economic engagement between the two countries to deal with all these negative shocks that we have been faced with".

The current period "is also a time of changes, and the whole international situation is very complex, but we are also more (deeply) interconnected than before", he added.

Yang Wanming, president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said that in the new era, "bilateral cooperation has continued to go deeper and deeper and benefit the two peoples" because the two nations have upheld the spirit of paying mutual respect and treating each other as equals under the strategic guidance of the two countries' leaders.

"Today in China, the Spanish element is everywhere, thousands of Spanish companies have invested in China, and high-quality goods from various industries are very popular among Chinese customers," he said.

He cited the packed audience seats at flamenco performances in China and Spain's leading in soccer teams, which "have gained countless Chinese fans".

Meanwhile, a number of companies from China in areas such as finance, trade, construction and energy are deeply committed to Spain's market, and the Spanish translations of Chinese-language classics have helped more Spanish friends feel the charm of Chinese culture, he said.

Speaking of bilateral cooperation, Yang suggested that both sides should focus more on hot spots and open up new channels through green development, and advance subnational collaboration between localities such as cities.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn