(W.E.Talk) Spanish work lays foundation for Western Sinology, early China-Europe exchange needs to be carried forward: scholar

(ECNS) — The year 2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Spain. During the second World Conference on China Studies, Zhang Xiping from Beijing Foreign Studies University reviewed the long-standing history of exchanges between the two countries in an exclusive interview with China News Network.

He noted that China-Spain relations date back to the Age of Discovery and were strengthened by the Manila Galleon Trade which lasted for 120 years. The exchange not only boosted economic development in Europe, but also laid the groundwork for Western Sinology. He cited History of the Great and Mighty Kingdom of China and the situation thereof by Juan Gonz lez de Mendoza, a Spanish missionary, as a foundational text. The equal exchange between China and Europe from 1500 to 1800 were of great significance in the history of human civilization, Zhang said.

He believed that it is essential to study China within a global context. “The existence of China Studies signifies that Chinese knowledge and thought have global relevance.”

He called on academic circles at home and abroad to strengthen interaction, hoping that more sinologists would understand both historical China and contemporary China. “We hope more Sinologists will come to China to experience the profound cultural resources underpinning Chinese modernization and the social vitality of contemporary China.” (By Gong Weiwei and Zhang Dongfang)