President Hu Jintao of China was greeted Monday by King Juan Carlos and Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero as he began a two-day official visit to Spain, the final leg of a three-country European tour. The visit, during which Madrid will try to boost its influence and increase exports to the Asian power, will also include another meeting with Zapatero, a visit to Spain's parliament, the signing of high-level agreements and a Spanish-Chinese business seminar. Hu was greeted by the king, Queen Sofia and the Socialist premier at the Pardo palace on Madrid's outskirts, where visiting dignitaries stay. He had a private dinner with the king on Sunday night at the Zarzuela Palace, the official royal residence. Zapatero, who visited China in July, is keen to boost Sino-Spanish trade in an effort to reduce a large deficit between the two nations, a government spokesman said. In 2004, Spain exported ¤1.2 billion (US$1.4 billion) of goods to China while it imported ¤8.5 billion (US$9.97 billion) from the world's fastest-expanding economy. From Spain, Hu is due to travel to South Korea for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Nov. 18-19. Hu previously visited Britain and Germany.
