Spain’s King Felipe VI meets Xi Jinping in Beijing, his first state visit to China since his father’s 2014 abdication and celebrating 20 years of bilateral ties.
Beijing: Spanish King Felipe VI receives a royal welcome from Chinese leader Xi Jinping during his first state visit to China since his father’s abdication in 2014.
The emperor arrived in a limousine with his wife Queen Letizia at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing where he met Xi, accompanied by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Commerce Minister Wang Wentao.
Xi, who received a warm welcome in Spain during his 2018 visit, called Felipe “a good friend of the Chinese people” during their meeting.
The king responded that “a relationship of trust has been built” between the two countries.
This week marks the 20th anniversary of high-level bilateral relations between Spain and China.
Felipe’s father, exiled former King Juan Carlos, was the first Spanish monarch to pay a state visit to China, in 1978.
Juan Carlos’s last state visit to China was in 2007 when he met former Chinese President Hu Jintao.
The current 57-year-old monarch has visited China on other occasions, including the Beijing Summer Olympics in 2008.
According to Spanish Royal Household data, China remains Spain’s largest trading partner in Asia and fourth largest globally. – AFP
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