Spanish Vice President Addresses the Symposium

By Staff Reporter Cui Fang

Beijing (16:00pm, Thursday November 5): Arriving at the meeting hall directly from Beijing Airport Thursday morning, Mr. Rodrigo Rato, Vice President and Minister of Economy of Spain, began his presentation amid warm applause.

Rato said that this year is the 25th anniversary of the establishment of Sino-Spanish diplomatic relations. In the past 25 years, many changes have taken place both in China and in Spain. Within the framework of stability, Sino-Spanish economic relations have developed rapidly in the interests of the two peoples. China has made good progress over the past two decades thanks to its opening and reform policy. However, he noted that China is presently facing some difficulties, such as this summer's flood and the Asian financial crisis, which might affect its economic development. During his visit to Spain, Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji said that China played an important role in stabilizing the Asian economies and China should and can make its contribution to the economic growth of Asia and the rest of the world.

In terms of Europe, the single European currency (Euro) will be the most significant economic event in 1998 for the 11 member states. The Euro will help stabilize prices and reduce public deficits. It will also play an important role as a reserve currency in place of the US dollar.

The Vice President pointed out that Spain wants to establish much closer ties with China. For the time being, the two countries enjoy friendly relations both in political and economic fields. Exchanges of high-level visits between the two nations in recent years have also helped promote the development of the bilateral relations. He added that Spain supports China's opening and reform policy even in very tough issues such as human rights. Spain adopts a cooperative attitude in this regard.

Rato concludes his speech by saying that there is great potential in economic cooperation between Spain and China and further bilateral investment and mutual understanding should be developed and enhanced.