BEIJING, June 27 -- Spain wishes to make its national exhibition hall in the World Expo Shanghai 2010 a permanent showcase for Spanish culture and art in China, said Spanish King Juan Carlos I in Shanghai on Tuesday.

    The king, on a weeklong state visit to China with Queen Sophia, also said he wished to set up an Institute Cervantes to promote the Spanish language here, when he met Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng yesterday morning.

    "I was deeply impressed by Shanghai's development as China's economic, financial and trade center in recent years," the king said. "I'm here just to see what Spain can do to participate in the World Expo and to further promote bilateral exchange."

    During his three-day stay in Shanghai, the king was viewed construction on the World Expo site, and the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Hall.

    About 13 percent of the US$14.4 billion bilateral trade between Spain and China was settled in Shanghai last year.

    Later yesterday, the king left Shanghai for Beijing and held a meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)