China, Spain to jointly safeguard multilateralism

China is willing to work with Spain to safeguard multilateralism, promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and maintain world peace and stability, said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday in a phone conversation with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Li spoke positively of the China-Spain relations, noting that since Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Spain in 2018, bilateral relations have maintained healthy and stable development.

China is ready to work with Spain to consolidate political mutual trust, and deepen practical cooperation in various fields, he said, adding that China welcomes more high-quality Spanish agricultural products.

China has always firmly supported the European integration process and hopes to see a united and prosperous European Union (EU), he said, noting that China supports the EU in keeping strategic independence, and working in unity and cooperation, and also supports Spain in playing a more important role in the EU.

Li said that China is willing to promote mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation with the EU in such areas as climate change, green development, and China-EU investment agreement negotiations, hoping that the EU side will continue to provide a fair, open and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies.

Sanchez, for his part, said that in recent years, the Spain-China relations have achieved positive development.

The Spanish government is willing to further deepen the relations with China, strengthen their bilateral economic and trade exchanges, continue to strengthen cooperation with Chinese companies in such fields as information communication and digital economy, and expand bilateral cultural exchanges, he said.

The prime minister also said that Spain supports an early conclusion of the negotiations for the EU-China investment agreement, and is willing to work with China to safeguard multilateralism, strengthen cooperation in addressing climate change, and promote the global availability of the COVID-19 vaccines.