China rolled out the red carpet for Spanish King Juan Carlos I and accorded him full military honors, complete with a 21-gun salute, in Beijing yesterday.

The king, who is on a weeklong state visit to China, met President Hu Jintao later. Hu told him that China wants to strengthen its trade and economic ties with Spain and boost its technological cooperation, especially in telecom, environment protection and renewable energy.

China hopes the two countries' enterprises will increase mutual investments and promote a balanced growth in trade, he said.

In response, Juan Carlos I said he hopes to use this visit to intensify comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries and expand their fields of cooperation.

This is the king's third visit to China; the previous two were in 1978 and 1995.

Apart from Beijing, the 250-member Spanish delegation also has Shanghai and Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, on its itinerary. The king is likely to attend the Sino-Spanish Beijing Forum of Industry and Commence today, the largest forum of its kind that Spain has held overseas.

The visit will initiate the "Year of Spain" in China, necessitated by the need to improve mutual understanding and Madrid's need to strengthen its presence in China, the king was quoted by the Xinhua News Agency as saying.