President Xi Jinping arrived in Spain today, 45 years after the two countries established diplomatic relations. Hundreds of Spanish companies have come to China ever since, and things are only getting better. Our reporter Chen Tong has been visting some Spanish firms in Shanghai to get an update.

The Spanish electric supplies company Simon came to China in the late 1990s, and since then has grown from a joint venture office to owning nearly 30 offices and having 2,000 distributors across the country. The company even established a research team last year exclusively to meet the demands of the Chinese market.

GONZALO BATISTA GUERRERO, BUSINESS DIRECTOR SIMON ASIA PACIFIC "Here in China really helping us and giving us a lot of possibilities and taking care of the company. More businesses are going to be developed here in China because we can see Chinese people are really interested in our products, design. We can still a lot of things here."

While the improving business environment here has allowed Spanish companies to expand their businesses, China's release of favorable policies for financial institutions has brought good news for Spanish banks. Bank Sabadell was one of the first foreign banks to invest in China, setting up its first office here in 1991. The Spanish bank provides services including finance, and international investment and clearing assistance to both Spanish and Chinese companies. The bank's chief representative in Shanghai says China's new policy of allowing foreign financial institutions to hold a majority stake in local finance firms means a lot to them.

GUILLERMO DIAZ SEVILLA, CHIEF REPRESENTATIVE BANCO SABADELL SHANGHAI OFFICE "Even if we don't have concrete plans. We would say in the mid term and long run Banco Sabadell would be very interested in taking advantage of this new regulation for doing more things in a better way here in China which we really consider as a very important market for us."

Banking and manufacturing are far from the only areas in which Spanish companies are interested here. More than 600 Spanish firms in industries including agriculture, fashion and logistics have invested in China. During the recently concluded China International Import Expo, 36 Spanish companies were showing off products in clothing, food and tourism. The Spanish government is active in encouraging more two-way investments between Spain and China.

LEI REN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR SPANISH CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SHANGHAI OFFICE  "The Spanish government reached great important to the China Import Expo CIIE, especially appoints government delegations-led by Spanish state secretary and minister and commerce and trade to come to China to encourage Spanish companies to participate in the CIIE. Spanish companies were actively signed up for the exhibition in various ways. They are grateful in China to have this platform to showcase different products from Spain and offer to Chinese customers."

As of the end of August, Spain had invested in about 2,500 projects worth 3.8 billion US dollars in China, making Spain China's sixth largest business partner within the European Union. China is now Spain's largest trading partner outside the EU.