Spanish PM eyes enhanced business cooperation with China

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday expressed the willingness to deepen business cooperation with China when attending the China-Spain Business Advisory Council Meeting in Beijing.

At the event, he met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao, alongside key government officials and business representatives from both countries.

Both sides highlighted the vital role of bilateral cooperation in fostering a strong and thriving business environment.

“I believe our relationship is heading towards deeper cooperation. This requires that both sides should actively engage and adapt flexibly to global challenges. By working together, our businesses will be able to overcome these issues. No doubt, this cooperation will bring new opportunities that benefit both of our societies,” said Sanchez.

Highlighting the vast Chinese market, Wang looked forward to closer cooperation for mutual success in a new era.

“China’s economic prospect remains positive in the long term, with our super-sized market based on over 1.4 billion people continuing to show tremendous growth potential. China’s demand for high-quality, high-tech products and services will offer a vast market for both countries’ enterprises, especially for Spanish businesses. I firmly believe the next 50 years of China-Spain relations will be very promising, and I hope businesses on both sides could seize this historic opportunity and deepen cooperation in emerging industries like renewable energy, green agriculture, and digital economy to achieve mutual success in this new era,” Wang said at the meeting.

Sanchez arrived in Beijing on Sunday for an official visit to China that will last through Wednesday.

During Sanchez’s visit, President Xi Jinping will meet with him, and Premier Li Qiang and Zhao Leji, chairman of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, will hold separate talks with him, according to a release by the Foreign Ministry of China.

Spanish PM eyes enhanced business cooperation with China

Spanish PM eyes enhanced business cooperation with China

China’s capital market has reported surging mergers and acquisitions deals driven by policy initiatives designed to energize the sector, according to the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC).

The country’s securities regulator said on Wednesday that companies listed on China’s A-share market have disclosed 46 major asset restructuring projects since May 2024, with seven equity restructuring cases submitted for CSRC registration.

CSRC officials said that market-oriented reforms in mergers and acquisitions and financial restructuring have shown positive results, with notable mergers and acquisitions cases constantly emerging and companies boasting core technologies taking a center stage.

“Companies are continuously advancing mergers and acquisitions by circling around people’s livelihood, national strategies, and emerging industries. Mergers help them achieve advantage complementarity, enhance overall competitiveness, and facilitate resource integration, ultimately boosting business profitability,” said Chen Li, chief economist at Chuancai Securities.

Asset restructuring refers to significant changes in a listed company’s assets through purchases, sales and other transactions. In April this year, the State Council released its third guideline document on the capital market in two decades, outlining efforts to build a “secure, regulated, transparent, open, dynamic and resilient capital market”. Since the introduction of the guideline, the CSRC has rolled out multiple measures to invigorate the mergers and acquisitions market and create favorable policy environment for restructuring.

“[These measures include] supporting companies listed on the STAR market in conducting mergers and acquisitions activity within their industrial chains to enhance industry collaboration and optimize resource allocation, and establishing efficient financing and mergers and acquisitions channels for companies that develop core technologies in key fields. These will help sci-tech companies acquire critical technologies, expand business layout, and accelerate sci-tech innovation and industrial upgrading,” Chen said.

By the end of August, the CSRC had registered 663 quarterly or half-yearly profit distribution reports from listed companies, with a total value of 533.7 billion yuan (about 75 billion U.S. dollars), up 157.1 percent year on year. Of these, 248 companies are expected to pay interim dividends of over 100 million yuan (more than 14 million U.S. dollars) to shareholders.

China’s capital market sees increasing mergers, acquisitions