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)