Alex Trelinski
SPAIN’S Prime Minister, Pedro Sanchez, has said it was ‘important to continue making progress in building good economic relations between China, Spain, and the EU’.
His remarks came after three hours of talks in Beijing on Friday with Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
Two export deals covering pork and cherries were signed.
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The meeting came in the middle of US president Donald Trump’s tariff war with China.
Despite criticism from Sanchez’s political opponents that he’s cosying up too much with a country that has a dubious human rights record, he said that his foreign policy is consistent with that of the EU.
He added: “China is an essential partner when it comes to facing global challenges such as the fight against the climate emergency, inequality, climate change which are some of the priorities of Spain’s foreign policy.”
“We want to work on issues of common interest, promoting trade and investment in a balanced way to benefit the development of our countries from our respective visions, and we want to foster closer ties between our societies,” Sanchez told Xi.
During the meeting at the presidential palace, Xi Jinping thanked Sanchez for his efforts in deepening relations between the two countries and with the EU.”
“I am very pleased to meet with you,” were Xi’s first words.
“The more turbulent and changing the international situation is, the more important it will be to maintain a good and stable development of Sino-Spanish relations,” the Chinese leader said.
It was Pedro Sanchez’s third visit to Beijing in just two years and prior to his talks with Xi, he met with representatives of 14 leading Chinese companies.
As for the tariff war between China and the US, Sanchez said: “I have told Xi that trade wars are not good, no one wins. The world probably needs China and the US to talk.”
