Yan Zhen/ Shanghai Daily news

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 the city yesterday, Shanghai Daily reported.

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.