Chinese President Hu Jintao shakes hands with Honorary President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Spain-side chairman of the China-Spain forum Juan Antonio Samaranch in Madrid yesterday. (Xinhua photo)

Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday spoke highly of former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch's role in promoting Sino-Spanish friendly relations.

At a meeting here with Samaranch, Hu said that the China-Spain Forum has become an important platform for promoting cooperation between the two countries and made positive contributions to friendly bilateral ties since its founding two years ago.

As the Spanish co-chairman of the forum, Samaranch has made painstaking efforts for the smooth running of the forum, Hu said.

Hu also highly commended Samaranch for his support to the development of the Olympic movement in China.

Spain has accumulated experiences in hosting Olympics and othermajor sports events, and China and Spain can strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the run-up to the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008,Hu added.

Samaranch said that he is proud to have helped the development of the Olympic movement in China and is convinced that the 2008 Olympic Games will achieve full success.

The Chinese president, who arrived here Sunday on a two-day state visit to Spain, also toured the facilities of Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica in the northern suburbs of Madrid.

Hu said that Telefonica and Chinese telecom companies can complement each other with their own advantages and achieve mutually beneficial and win-win results.

Spanish Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Jose Montilla, who greeted Hu during his visit to Telefonica, said thatSpain is looking forward to expanding cooperation with China.

As one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world,Telefonica has forged increasingly closer relations with China in recent years.