Words by President of the Government at his meeting with Premier of People's Republic of China

Beijing

Thank you, Mr Premier.

I also remember my first visit, which was a bilateral visit, and the talk we had at that time, which I found very constructive. We are also very interested in relations between Spain and China. China has the second largest Gross Domestic Product in the world; it is a great country, with a very important history and I am absolutely convinced that it will also have a great future.

These relations are obviously very important to me and we wanted to attend this Silk Road Forum because we believe that it is a wonderful initiative, which could be very positive for China, but it could also be very positive for Spanish companies, for relations between different people, for culture and for getting to know each other better because, in the end, knowledge can then subsequently be built into trust and hence opportunities arise to do things together to the benefit of our two countries.

So I would thank you for the time you have afforded me and I would also thank you for inviting me to the Silk Road Forum, which formally begins tomorrow and which I am convinced will be a success. The key is for this success to extend over time to the benefit of everyone, for you who have brought us this initiative and for all those who have joined up to it from the very outset with such a positive outlook.

Thank you very much.