Key points
- Sánchez is on his third visit to China in just over two years
- Spain buys about $49.1 billion of goods every year from China
- His visit to China follows a trip to Vietnam
ISLAMABAD: Chinese President Xi Jinping met Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Friday, Beijing’s state news agency Xinhua said.
According to AFP, Sánchez ‘s trip comes as the European Union rethinks its global trading relationships in the face of turmoil caused by the US import duties announced last week that have sent world markets into a tailspin.
The prime minister is on his third visit to China in just over two years.
Spain buys about 45 billion euros ($49.1 billion) of goods every year from China, its fourth-largest trading partner, but sells around 7.4 billion euros’ worth.
“Fair trade order”
Sánchez broke with the rest of the EU on his last trip to China in September 2024, urging the bloc to reconsider plans to impose high tariffs on Chinese electric cars and calling for a “fair trade order”.
The EU argued that the tariffs were necessary to protect European producers from unfair competition from state-backed Chinese firms.
His visit to China follows a trip to Vietnam, where in Hanoi on Wednesday he and counterpart Pham Minh Chinh signed a joint declaration aiming to elevate ties to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.
According to Global Times, Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a two-day China visit. In the face of growing uncertainties and mounting tariff pressure, Sánchez’s visit to China carries significance in tackling common challenges, Chinese experts said on Thursday.
20th anniversary
Spain is an important cooperative partner for China within the EU. The two sides have always adhered to the principles of mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual benefit. Our bilateral relations are at the forefront of China’s ties with European countries. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership. China hopes to take this visit as an opportunity to deepen strategic mutual trust between the two sides, expand open cooperation, jointly address global challenges, and achieve new progress for the China-Spain comprehensive strategic partnership from a new starting point, according to Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian.
The latest round of US tariff measures affects both China and Europe, to a certain extent, pushing the two sides closer together on trade-related issues, Cui Hongjian, professor of the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said, according to Global Times.
“It is imperative for China and the EU to jointly confront this challenge, as US unilateralist policies would severely damage the globalisation and multilateral trading system that underpins China-EU cooperation,” Cui said.
