Marcelo Munoz has been a trailblazer in promoting East/West dialogue after becoming the first Spanish person to do business in modern-day China - more than forty years ago.
Now he’s been recognised, receiving the title of ‘Friendship Ambassador’ award from Beijing.
CGTN’s Ken Browne reports.
#China #Spain #Europe #Business
Now he’s been recognised, receiving the title of ‘Friendship Ambassador’ award from Beijing.
CGTN’s Ken Browne reports.
#China #Spain #Europe #Business
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NewsTranscript
00:00Marcelo Muñoz is a bridge-builder, a leading Spanish voice in Sino-European relations.
00:07Now, recognition has come in the form of the Friendship Ambassador Award in Beijing,
00:12making him the third European to receive this prestigious medal.
00:17Naturally, this is a moment of immense pride for me.
00:20I didn't realize, but I was in the first row.
00:23I was the first to be greeted by President Xi Jinping at the event.
00:26Muñoz also addressed the ongoing trade dispute between the European Union and China.
00:32Firstly, I would say that we need to get serious and speak to China, have a genuine dialogue.
00:42If we look at this with any sense of perspective, these tariffs are completely nonsensical.
00:48China is already building factories in Europe, one in Barcelona and another in Hungary,
00:54so within a year they will be European electric cars.
00:58Tariffs have no place and it's pointless getting all tangled up in trade disputes now.
01:04As a European, to me this is an act of solemn stupidity, a waste of time.
01:10This is just about putting the brakes on China.
01:15He says the two should look to work together.
01:20Let's use the time to come to agreements, to lay the foundations for technological cooperation and joint research.
01:27China is investing in a shared world, a shared dialogue and a shared future.
01:34Take tourism for example.
01:36Muñoz says Spain should lift visa restrictions for Chinese nationals wishing to travel to Europe.
01:44I think tourism is an important method of communication between countries.
01:49We can visit China visa-free now, so let's do the same and offer visa-free travel to Chinese tourists.
01:56What's more is that Chinese tourism isn't seasonal, it's cultural tourism and shopping,
02:02which doesn't affect tourism from other countries.
02:05So why don't we do it?
02:07Peace, cooperation and communication, the pillars of the philosophy of the Spanish bridge builder Marcelo Muñoz.
02:15Ken Brown, CGTN, Madrid.