This year marks the 51st anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain. And the two countries established a comprehensive strategic partnership based on mutual respect, exchanges and dialogue nearly 20 years ago. Building on this solid foundation, the development of Sino-Spanish relations should have been plain sailing over the past two years, given the fact that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has had two face-to-face meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping since November 2022 before his third meeting with the Chinese leader in Beijing on Monday.
But the good momentum generated by their meetings in Bali, Indonesia, in 2022 and Beijing in 2023 has been buffeted by a headwind recently as Madrid ardently supported the European Commission imposing punitive tariffs as high as 36.7 percent on Chinese-made electric vehicles. That's why some in the West interpret Sánchez's ongoing four-day visit to China starting on Sunday as a remedial action to get the relationship back on an even keel.
In response to the European Union's threat to impose protectionist duties on Chinese-made EVs, Beijing responded by launching an investigation into EU pork imports. The value of the EU's pork exports to China was 2.5 billion euros ($2.6 billion) last year, almost half of which came from Spain.
Even if that might be part of the reason behind the Spanish leader's second trip to China in about a year, the itinerary of his packed China trip this time and the fact that his Monday meeting with Xi was also productive and unfolded in as amicable an atmosphere as the previous two indicate the expectations of the two sides are much higher.
As President Xi said, since both countries have a sense of mission and responsibility, they should work together to safeguard multilateralism and the free trade system. He expressed the hope that the Spanish side will provide Chinese companies with a fair, just, safe and nondiscriminatory business environment, so that the two sides can expand their common interests.
Sánchez responding that Spain supports free trade and does not agree with a trade war is highly welcome. It is to be hoped Madrid can act on these words and demonstrate strategic composure.
Notably, despite its stance on the EU tariffs, Spain welcomes the plans of Chinese carmaker Chery to open a plant for EVs in Barcelona. That means the country recognizes the Chinese EV industry's competitiveness and technological strengths, and values the opportunities and benefits these companies can bring to the country.
As such, the two countries have enough space in which to maneuver to find ways to resolve the temporary spat over the EU tariffs on Chinese-made EVs.
