Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing and King Felipe VI of Spain both attended the third meeting of the China-Spain Business Advisory Council in Beijing on Thursday.
Zhang, who is also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, noted that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Spain.
He said that under the strategic guidance of their two heads of state, China and Spain should extend their horizon for win-win cooperation, safeguard a fair and open business environment, tap their potential for cooperation on sci-tech innovation, and push bilateral economic and trade cooperation to new highs.
King Felipe VI said that Spain is willing to maintain close exchange and continue deepening pragmatic cooperation with China in various fields, adding that the country welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest and start businesses in Spain to work toward more results of bilateral cooperation.
The meeting, which was co-hosted by China and Spain, was attended by more than 30 representatives of Chinese and Spanish enterprises, associations and chambers of commerce, among other entities.
Chinese vice premier calls for enhanced economic, trade cooperation with Spain
Voting for the election of the eighth-term Legislative Council (LegCo) of China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) concluded on Sunday night.
Voting for the election began at 07:30 a.m. local time on Sunday. More than 600 polling stations were opened across Hong Kong, serving approximately 4.13 million registered voters.
Long queues had already formed outside multiple polling stations across Hong Kong before the polls opened. At polling station entrances, staff and volunteers attentively assisted voters with the procedures. Some voters posed for a photo holding a thank-you card given by staff after casting their ballot.
"As a Hong Kong citizen, I think it's my responsibility to vote, and I don't want to give up my rights. That's why I come here to support," a voter said.
"We actually flew in from Thailand. Learning today is a special day to vote, we actually canceled all our appointments and canceled everything, and we flew in with the whole family just to be part of Hong Kong and to vote, and to cast our vote and be part of the community," said another voter.
HKSAR Chief Executive John Lee cast his ballot at around 08:30 a.m. at Raimondi College on Robinson Road. He said that the LegCo election is of great importance to Hong Kong's overall development and future reforms, and it also represents the expectations of Hong Kong society.
A number of voters said they look forward to the new term of the Legislative Council taking greater responsibility in advancing Hong Kong's economy, society, and public welfare.
"I think an area of focus I'd like to see is, one is the economy, and secondly is youth mobility and youth policies. I think youth are the future, and it's very important to get unity within the youth and also give us hope, right? The youth in general -- what can we do to, for us as youth, to partake in civil society and to show our responsibility, but also from the government, like, what kind of policy that can help us do that as well," said a young voter.
"I hope that there will be more fair education in the sense that even people from the poor family, they can actually receive good education in good schools," another voter said.
The new term of LegCo will be composed of 90 members, including 40 elected by the Election Committee, 30 elected by functional constituencies, and 20 elected by geographical constituencies through direct elections. The name list of the 40 members returned by the Election Committee has been unveiled.
The eighth-term LegCo of the HKSAR will commence its four-year term on Jan 1, 2026.
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
Voting for 8th-term HKSAR LegCo election concludes
