| Chinese President Hu Jintao exchanged congratulatory messages with King Juan Carlos I of Spain Saturday to mark the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
In his message, Hu said bilateral relations between China and Spain had developed rapidly since the establishment of diplomatic ties in 1973.
Since 2005, when a comprehensive strategic partnership was established, the two countries had strengthened cooperation in various areas and achieved fruitful results, he said.
Facing the complicated international situation, both countries had coordinated closely with each other and supported each other in pursuit of common development, said the Chinese leader.
Hu said China cherishes its friendship with Spain and he hoped both sides would work to push for new development in bilateral ties by promoting exchanges at various levels, deepening pragmatic cooperation and expanding cultural exchanges.
In his message, the Spanish king said both Spain and China had made great achievements in past decades and he believed bilateral relations would become more closer in the future to further benefit the two countries and the two peoples.
Also on Saturday, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao exchanged messages with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Wen said that in the past 40 years, mutual trust in China-Spain relations had been strengthened and bilateral cooperation in areas, such as finance, telecommunications and energy, had yielded substantial results.
Wen said China is ready to take the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as an opportunity to make joint efforts with Spain to continuously promote the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.
In his message, Rajoy said both sides had worked closely in the past 40 years and he hoped the two sides would further strengthen bilateral cooperation.
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi also exchanged messages with his Spanish counterpart Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo to mark the occasion.
(Xinhua News Agency March 9, 2013) | 
