BEIJING: Chinese leader Xi Jinping met former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in Beijing on Thursday, state media reported, describing the 100-year-old as a “legendary diplomat.”
Kissinger used the visit to call for a rapprochement between the United States and China, which remain at loggerheads over a range of disputes, from human rights to trade and national security.
It also overlapped with a trip by US climate envoy John Kerry, and follows recent visits by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
“On July 20, President Xi Jinping met former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse,” state broadcaster CCTV said, hailing his role in having opened up relations between China and the United States in the 1970s.
China’s state media did not offer further details on the meeting, which took place at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse’s building number five — the same location as a historic meeting between Kissinger and then-premier Zhou Enlai in 1971.
A US national security adviser, Kissinger secretly flew to Beijing in July 1971 on a mission to establish relations with communist China.
That trip set the stage for a landmark visit by former US president Richard Nixon, who sought both to shake up the Cold War and enlist help in ending the Vietnam War.
Washington’s overtures to an isolated Beijing contributed to China’s rise to become a manufacturing powerhouse and the world’s second-largest economy.
Since leaving office, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Kissinger has grown wealthy advising businesses on China — and has warned against a hawkish turn in US policy.
“Since 1971, Dr. Kissinger has visited China more than 100 times,” CCTV said on Thursday.
“On May 27 this year, the legendary diplomat celebrated his 100th birthday, and this visit is also his first trip to China since turning 100,” it added.
State news agency Xinhua reported him as telling defense minister Li Shangfu on Tuesday: “Kissinger said in today’s world, challenges and opportunities coexist, and both the United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully, and avoid confrontation.”
Kissinger also met on Wednesday with top diplomat Wang Yi, who praised Kissinger’s “historic contributions to the ice-breaking development of China-US relations.”
“The US policy toward China needs Kissinger-style diplomatic wisdom and Nixon-style political courage,” Wang said.
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Xi Jinping meets former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in Beijing
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Xi Jinping meets former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger in Beijing
- Statesman uses visit to call for a rapprochement between the US and China
- His travel also overlapped with a trip by US climate envoy John Kerry
Spain unveils public investment fund to tackle housing crisis
- The Spanish PM said the fund would raise 120 billion euros ($142 billion)
MADRID: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday presented a new public investment fund that he said would raise 120 billion euros ($142 billion) and help tackle the country’s persistent housing crisis.
Scarce and unaffordable housing is consistently a top concern for Spaniards and represents a stubborn challenge in one of the world’s most dynamic developed economies.
The new “Spain Grows” fund, first announced in January, aims to replace the tens of billions of EU post-Covid recovery aid that helped drive Spain’s strong growth in recent years.
Sanchez said the headline figure — representing seven percent of Spain’s annual economic output — would come through public and private sources, with an initial contribution of 10.5 billion euros of EU money.
The fund would “mobilize up to 23 billion euros in public and private funding to dynamise the housing supply” and help build 15,000 homes per year, Sanchez added, without specifying a timeframe for the planned investment.
Energy, digitalization, artificial intelligence and security industries would also benefit from the money, the Socialist leader said at a presentation in Madrid.
Tourism is a key component of Spain’s economy, with the country welcoming a record 97 million foreign visitors last year, when GDP growth reached 2.8 percent — almost double the eurozone average.
But locals complain that short-term tourist accommodation has driven up housing prices and dried up supply.
The average price of a square meter for rent has doubled in 10 years, according to online real estate portal Idealista.
According to the Bank of Spain, the net creation of new households and a lag in housing construction created a deficit of 700,000 homes between 2021 and 2025.
Scarce and unaffordable housing is consistently a top concern for Spaniards and represents a stubborn challenge in one of the world’s most dynamic developed economies.
The new “Spain Grows” fund, first announced in January, aims to replace the tens of billions of EU post-Covid recovery aid that helped drive Spain’s strong growth in recent years.
Sanchez said the headline figure — representing seven percent of Spain’s annual economic output — would come through public and private sources, with an initial contribution of 10.5 billion euros of EU money.
The fund would “mobilize up to 23 billion euros in public and private funding to dynamise the housing supply” and help build 15,000 homes per year, Sanchez added, without specifying a timeframe for the planned investment.
Energy, digitalization, artificial intelligence and security industries would also benefit from the money, the Socialist leader said at a presentation in Madrid.
Tourism is a key component of Spain’s economy, with the country welcoming a record 97 million foreign visitors last year, when GDP growth reached 2.8 percent — almost double the eurozone average.
But locals complain that short-term tourist accommodation has driven up housing prices and dried up supply.
The average price of a square meter for rent has doubled in 10 years, according to online real estate portal Idealista.
According to the Bank of Spain, the net creation of new households and a lag in housing construction created a deficit of 700,000 homes between 2021 and 2025.
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