Spain's First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la
Vega inaugurated Monday the "Year of Spain in China", in which a
variety of activities will be held in China to further boost
bilateral friendship and cooperation.
Fernandez said Spain attaches great importance to the relations
with China and views it as an important cooperation partner.
The ties between the two countries have been moving upward since
the establishment of diplomatic relationship in 1973, she said,
adding that the Year of Spain in China and a reciprocal Chinese art
festival in Spain are bound to further strengthen their overall
strategic partnership and help promote mutual understanding between
their peoples.
Qiu Xiaoqi, China's ambassador to Spain, said bilateral
cooperation is going broader and deeper. He believed that the Year
of Spain will facilitate the Chinese people's understanding of
Spain's age-old splendid culture.
The agreement to put up the Year of Spain in China and a Chinese
art festival in Spain was reached by Chinese President Hu Jintao
and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero during Hu's
visit to Spain in November 2005.
During the Year of Spain in China, events to come include
concerts, movie shows, gastronomic exhibitions, business forums and
tourism promotion activities.
With their political and trade ties becoming closer, cultural
exchanges have also been growing. Spain has set up a Cervantes
Institute in China and hosted China's Confucius College.
Also present at the ceremony were Spanish Miguel Angel Moratinos
and Juan Antonio Samaranch, ex-president of the International
Olympic Committee.
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(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2007)