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[global times special correspondent xu yongsheng, xin bin, global times reporter chen zishuai] china welcomes heads of government and senior officials from many countries to visit china this week. according to the chinese ministry of foreign affairs, spanish prime minister sanchez will pay an official visit to china from september 8 to 11; singapore foreign minister vivian will visit china from september 8 to 9; and norwegian prime minister støre will pay an official visit to china from september 9 to 11.

regarding sanchez's visit, the spanish newspaper la verdad reported on the 7th that the main purpose of the prime minister's visit is to strengthen the business ties between china and spain and work to ease bilateral economic challenges and frictions. according to sources within the spanish government, the two sides will discuss important issues such as the international geopolitical situation, the eu's additional tariffs on chinese electric vehicles, and china's anti-dumping investigation on eu imports of pork and pork by-products.

spanish prime minister sanchez file photo source: visual china

spain's el mundo commented that sanchez's visit to china has distinct economic characteristics. spanish minister of economy, trade and enterprise carlos cuerpo and foreign minister josé manuel alvarez will accompany him, and the delegation includes representatives of many spanish business giants, such as bbva, united technologies, and spanish petroleum. in addition, the report said that the automotive industry is one of the strategic focuses of this trip, and parts manufacturers antolin and gestamp have confirmed that they will join the delegation. in addition to beijing, sanchez is expected to visit shanghai and unveil the newly built cervantes institute.

el mundo quoted miguel otero, chief researcher at spain's elcano royal institute, as saying that sanchez's visit to china demonstrated his high regard for china's international status and his attempt to expand cooperation opportunities with china from the perspective of the country and the european union.

on the 8th, singaporean media paid attention to the visit of foreign minister vivian balakrishnan to china. singapore's lianhe zaobao reported that vivian balakrishnan was accompanied on his visit to china by sim ann, senior minister of state for foreign affairs and national development.

according to reports, vivian last visited china in february 2023. in march of the same year, he accompanied then prime minister lee hsien loong on a visit to china. in july this year, vivian met with wang yi, member of the political bureau of the cpc central committee and foreign minister, in vientiane. lianhe zaobao said that vivian thanked china for promoting the 30-day mutual visa exemption between singapore and china.

jennifer dodgson, an analyst who studies asia-pacific issues in singapore, told a special correspondent of the global times on the 8th that this is the first visit to china by singapore's top diplomat after the establishment of the new government. she said that in march last year, when then prime minister lee hsien loong visited china, the two countries announced that they would upgrade the singapore-china relationship to an all-round, high-quality, forward-looking partnership, clarifying the direction for the next development of the singapore-china relationship. vivian's visit is aimed at reconfirming and reconsolidating the direction of the development of the relationship between the two countries.

zhang yihui, an expert on international issues at the chinese academy of social sciences, said in an interview with the global times on the 8th that singapore is currently facing challenges in its two major relationships with china and the united states. singapore is close to the united states in terms of security, and the united states has a military base in singapore. in terms of economy and trade, singapore has a stronger connection with china, and china and singapore have achieved mutual visa exemption. china is concerned about how singapore can maintain a balance between china and the united states. at the same time, singapore plays the role of a military advisor in asean affairs. asean will hold a summit in the second half of the year. china also wants to understand asean's next move through singapore, and at the same time convey china's ideas to asean.

on the eve of flying to beijing, norwegian prime minister støre told the norwegian broadcasting corporation on the 8th: "we must find a balance. we must cooperate with china and trade with china, but at the same time retain areas of non-cooperation." when asked in an interview whether he would buy a chinese electric car, he replied that he often drives a german car privately, but "i am not afraid to sit in a chinese electric car." støre said that norway would not "automatically follow" the us's measures against china, such as norway did not impose tariffs on chinese electric vehicles, "so far, there has been no suggestion that we cannot buy chinese electric cars."

norwegian media said that støle will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries with china. according to the norwegian "e24" news website, the prime minister will lead a business delegation to visit china for three days in beijing, shanghai and other places.