Since its establishment in 2003, the China-Spain Forum has successfully held eight meetings, with the strong support of the governments of both countries. Representatives from a wide range of sectors have engaged in high-level exchanges through the forum, significantly contributing to the deepening of friendly cooperation between China and Spain.
On September 9, 2024, the 9th meeting of the China-Spain Forum was held in Beijing, with Vice Premier Liu Guozhong of China and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain jointly attending the opening ceremony. Participants included representatives from relevant government departments, provincial and municipal leaders, as well as executives from businesses, universities, think tanks, media, and youth organizations. The discussions centered around the theme “Towards the Next 50 Years of Spain-China Relations: Working Together to Create a Sustainable Future”, with both sides engaging in dialogue on topics such as local cooperation, cultural exchanges, and sustainable development, leading to a broad consensus.
Both sides agreed that close high-level interactions between China and Spain are the fundamental guarantee for the continuous development of bilateral relations and the successful hosting of the China-Spain Forum. During President Xi Jinping’s visit to Spain in 2018, both countries jointly issued the Joint Declaration on Strengthening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of Spain, which positively evaluated the significant role of the China-Spain Forum in enhancing mutual understanding and friendship between the peoples of both countries, reflecting the high level of the forum and both sides’ commitment to its mechanism.
Both parties affirmed that China-Spain friendly cooperation is continuously revitalizing in the new era. In the current international context, the close relationship between China and Spain benefits not only the two nations but also plays an important role in global peace, stability, and prosperity.
The attending representatives proposed the following initiatives:
I. Deepen Sub-national Exchanges: Continuously strengthen the bonds of common interest between China and Spain. This involves exploring mechanisms for sub-national cooperation, promoting more provinces and cities to establish sister-city relationships, and building complementary and mutually beneficial sister-city relationships. The aim is to create dynamic interactions from the central to local levels of government.
II. Enhance People-to-People Exchanges: Continuously solidify the public foundation of China-Spain friendship. Both sides should respect cultural diversity and advocate for inclusiveness between civilizations, actively facilitating exchanges in culture, arts, tourism, education, language, and think tanks, thereby promoting mutual understanding and fostering dialogue between civilizations.
III. Promote Sustainable Development: Continuously enrich the substance of mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Spain. This includes expanding cooperation in new areas such as green energy and the digital economy, providing a fair and equitable business environment for enterprises from both sides, and encouraging more businesses to engage in bilateral investment to support green transformation and foster high-quality development.
The attending representatives expressed gratitude to both nations for their significant efforts in successfully organizing the 9th meeting of the China-Spain Forum and unanimously agreed to continue exploring innovative approaches for better development of the forum.
It was decided that the 10th meeting of the China-Spain Forum would be held in Spain.
