Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will pay an official visit to China from July 21 to 23 at the invitation of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in Beijing on July 14.

During the visit, top Chinese leaders including Hu Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao and Jia Qinglin will meet or hold talks with the Spanish prime minister respectively. The two sides will have an exchange of views on bilateral relation and other issues of common concern, Liu said.

"China and Spain will also sign a number of cooperation agreements involving economy, trade and culture," he told a routine news conference. "Meanwhile we will organize relative activities like seminars on economy and trade."

He noted that China and Spain have witnessed a rapid and sound development in bilateral relations in recent years.

"The two countries have enjoyed increasingly deepening cooperation of mutual benefits and frequent high-level exchanges," Liu said.

The bilateral trade volume of last year reached 7.223 billion US dollars. The figure of the first five months this year reached 3.981 billion US dollars, up 48.3 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, China and Spain have carried out increasing exchanges and cooperation in such fields as culture, education, science and technology, administration and justice.

"We are pleased with the bilateral relations," Liu said. "We believe the upcoming visit will play a positive role in upgrading the friendly relations for the two countries."

Source: Xinhua