Chinese official meets Spain's PSOE party chief, calls for further bilateral ties

Liu Qibao, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC), on Tuesday called for efforts to further promote China-Spain ties, while meeting General Secretary of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Pedro Sanchez.

Liu, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said that the Sino-Spanish ties have been marked by frequent high-level exchanges, deepening political trust and enhanced economic and trade cooperation, bringing people of both countries tangible benefits.

Liu expressed his hope that bilateral relations could be raised to an even higher level, taking advantage of the tenth anniversary of the creation of the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

Liu, also head of the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee, noted that the CPC and the PSOE have maintained friendly contacts since the establishment of their inter-party ties in 1985.

Liu expressed hope that both parties will respect and accommodate each other's core interests and major concern and make the inter-party contact an effective platform for boosting mutual understanding and trust between statesmen of both countries and promoting bilateral cooperation in various areas.

Sanchez said that the PSOE gives great importance to its relations with the CPC and highlighted that it was while the PSOE were in office that Spain and China established their comprehensive strategic partnership.

"In the name of the new executive committee of the PSOE, I want to reiterate that the PSOE will work to promote relations of friendship, understanding and mutual confidence, whether we are in power or in opposition," said Sanchez. Endit