The Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, was received this Friday at the Great Hall of the People, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, by the Prime Minister of the People’s Republic of China, Li Qiang. Both have held a bilateral meeting in which, without yet addressing the thorny issue of China’s position on the war in Ukraine, political dialogue has been reactivated and it has been agreed to relaunch economic and trade relations between the two countries after the halt caused by the coronavirus pandemic. All this before the big event this afternoon, in which the Spanish president will culminate his first official visit to China with a meeting with the president of the Asian colossus, Xi Jinping.
Sánchez began by recalling that when President Xi made his state visit to Spain in 2018, a strong boost was given to the comprehensive strategic association between the two countries. The joint declaration that both leaders sealed on that occasion included a series of commitments that, however, were suspended when the coronavirus broke out throughout the world. “Now that we are leaving the pandemic behind, it is important to relaunch these relationships,†Sánchez pointed out to Li.
The Chief Executive also stressed that “there are investment opportunities in Spain.” In any case, Sánchez has demanded “to advance in a more balanced commercial relationship.”
During this meeting between Sánchez and Li, it has been agreed to reactivate the high-level dialogues included in the 2018 declaration, and several memorandums of understanding and cooperation have been signed between both countries.
In his meeting with Sánchez in Beijing, the Chinese Prime Minister, Li Qiang, stressed that “Spain is a great country in the European Union and plays an important role in regional and international affairs.” And he has underlined Sánchez’s leadership, in addition to celebrating his efforts to promote the relationship and cooperation between China and Europe. In addition to bilateral relations with Spain, the Chinese authorities emphasize the rotating presidency of the European Union, which Spain will hold during the second half of this year.
China is already the world’s leading supplier to Spain, which now wants to increase its exports to the Asian giant and rebalance the trade balance. “We are very willing to promote the exchange of goods, the import and export of goods, starting with Spain,” Li said. “The most important thing for China is to promote the common prosperity of the world with our own development, and we are very willing to collaborate with Spain,” he stressed, using the hook of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries “as an opportunity â€.
