Stamps issued to commemorate 50th anniv of China-Spain diplomatic ties

SHIJIAZHUANG, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A set of two stamps was issued on Wednesday to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain.

The stamps, featuring Spain's Laguna de Fuente de Piedra and the Hengshui Lake in north China's Hebei Province, were designed by Chinese stamp designer Ma Lihang. It is expected that a total of 6.9 million sets of the commemorative stamps will be released for sale over a period of six months.

Zhang Zongliang, general manager of the Hebei Branch of China Post Group Co., Ltd., said that the Hengshui Lake symbolizes China's ecological vitality and expressed his hope that the stamps featuring the lake would showcase the beautiful sceneries where humans and nature coexist in harmony to people around the world.

This is the first time the Hengshui Lake has been featured on a stamp jointly issued by China and a foreign country, he added.

The lake is a national nature reserve that boasts a complete wetland ecosystem. It is home to 333 bird species, 757 insect species, 594 plant species, and 45 fish species.

Laguna de Fuente de Piedra, within the wet zones of the Western Mediterranean, is home to the largest colony of flamingoes in the Iberian Peninsula.

The launch ceremony for the commemorative stamps held by the Hengshui Lake was hosted by Alvaro Lago Sanchez, a Spanish foreign language expert whose surname includes the word "Lago," meaning lake in Spanish or "Hu" in Chinese. Therefore, he chose the Chinese character "Hu" as the surname for his Chinese name.

Speaking at the event, he said he hopes the two countries could continue enhancing exchanges and deepening cooperation in the area of environmental protection.