Fourth Meeting of China-Spain Forum Held in Madrid
Yin Shenglun

        Chairman Hu Qili and Executive Chairman Chen Haosu of the Chinese Committee of the China-Spain Forum (CSF) led a Chinese delegation to attend the Fourth Meeting of the CSF in Madrid from November 27 to 28, 2007. The meeting with the theme of “Harmony, Development and Gaining Win-Win Results” was jointly sponsored by the CPAFFC, the CSF Chinese Committee, the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Spain China Council Foundation.
        On November 27, the opening ceremony of the Fourth Meeting was held in Madrid, at which Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and Spanish First Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de La Vega were present. In his speech Vice Premier Hui said, the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Spain in 2005 is an important milestone in the bilateral relations. Through the joint efforts of the two sides, China-Spain relations have entered into the best period of development. Vice Premier Hui put forward a five-point suggestion for comprehensively raising the level of China-Spain cooperation in all fields: 1. The two countries should effectively strengthen mutual political trust,   grasp the direction of the development of bilateral relations from a strategic and long-term perspective, maintain high-level contacts, deepen strategic dialogue and expand international cooperation. 2. The two countries should continue to boost economic and trade cooperation, further broaden areas of cooperation, expand the scale of trade, strengthen mutual investment and carry out close cooperation with enriched contents between enterprises. 3. The two countries should further expand cultural and educational exchanges, increase contacts at all levels, enhance mutual understanding and push the bilateral substantial cooperation in the fields of culture, science, technology, education, sports, etc. to a higher level. 4. The two countries should continue to do a good job in holding the Year of Spain in China and the Chinese Art Festival in Spain, and take the opportunities of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai and the Saragossa World Exposition to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation. 5. The two countries should give full play to the effective role of the CSF, improve its mechanism, and continue to explore new areas, new thinking and new ways for bilateral cooperation so as to make greater contributions to the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership.
         Maria Teresa Fernandez de La Vega, Spanish first deputy prime minister, Hu Qili, chairman of the CSF Chinese Committee, Juan Antonio Samaranch, chairman of the CSF Spanish Committee, and Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, mayor of Madrid, also spoke on the occasion. Over 500 Chinese and Spanish representatives of various circles were present at the opening ceremony. Spanish King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met with Vice Premier Hui Liangyu on separate occasions.
         He Luli, vice chairperson of the Standing Committee of the Chinese National People’s Congress, and Carmen Calvo, first vice president of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, attended the closing ceremony of the meeting and spoke on the occasion. Vice Chairperson He expressed her warm congratulations on the full success of the Fourth Meeting of the CSF and spoke highly of the positive role played by the CSF in promoting Sino-Spanish relations. She said, through serious discussions in the past two days, representatives of the two sides exchanged views fully and reached forward-looking consensus on the important topics including the current situation and existing problems in the bilateral cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, culture, sports, laws and between localities and cities, orientation of joint efforts and planned goals. The conclusive documents submitted by the six committees embodied the spirit of China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership, expressed the common wishes to further bilateral cooperation, and reflected the aims of the meeting to promote mutual trust and strengthen cooperation.
          Chen Haosu said in his concluding speech, since its founding in 2003, the CSF has made progress in its work in three aspects: First, on the basis of governmental cooperation, the CSF has encouraged more nongovernmental organizations to participate in the China-Spain cooperation. Second, in addition to the original four committees, it has set up two more committees, namely the Law Committee and the Locality and City Committee, and held discussions on the cooperation between women. Third, in line with the aspiration of the highest leadership of the two countries, it has actively pushed for economic cooperation with a third party.
          Hu Qili, Samaranch and others attended the closing ceremony. Vice Chairperson He Luli met with Carmen Calvo and Jordi Vilajoana, first and second vice president of the Congress of Deputies, on different occasions.         
         The CSF’s political, economic, cultural, sports, law, and locality and city committees respectively held discussions on further strengthening cooperation and worked out their respective conclusive documents. At the Third China-Spain Business Summit and the Economic Committee Meeting which were jointly held, the participants had in-depth discussions on financial reform and cooperation with the third market. The two sides signed 6 agreements on cooperation.
         At the closing ceremony, Chen Haosu, on behalf of the CPAFFC, conferred the honorary title of Friendship Ambassador upon Juan Antonio Samaranch in recognition of his outstanding contributions to the friendship between the Chinese and Spanish people. Vice Chairperson He Luli attended the conferring ceremony and presented the certificate and medal to Samaranch.
         During the meeting, the Madrid Municipal Government and the Madrid Regional Government respectively hosted a banquet and a reception in celebration of the successful convening of the Meeting.