Spanish Crown Prince Felipe de Borbon y Grecia said on Thursday
Spain will continue to encourage Spanish investment in China and
welcome Chinese investment in return.
Borbon y Grecia made the remarks in Shanghai at a China-Spain
investment and cooperation forum attended by 111 Spanish and about
400 Chinese enterprises.
Nearly half of the Spanish firms had begun business in China,
mainly in the fields of finance, energy, engineering and
consultancy.
Borbon y Grecia admired China's fast economic growth rate of
nearly 10 percent in the past 20 years, and said the Chinese market
was important to the world economy.
The Spanish government listed China as a priority for foreign
economic and trade development and its development plan encouraged
Spanish enterprises to invest there.
The plan had a budget of up to 710 million euros, the largest
ever Spanish budget plan for a single foreign market.
Spanish investment in China grew fivefold over five years to hit
US$197 million in 2005.
More than 400 Spanish enterprises operate in China, including
more than 200 in and around Shanghai.
Borbon y Grecia is on an official visit to China at the
invitation of Vice President Zeng Qinghong. He arrived here on
Wednesday and left for Beijing on Thursday evening.
(Xinhua News Agency July 14, 2006)
