BEIJING, Sept 9 (Askume) – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday urged Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to play a “constructive role” in improving strained ties between Beijing and the European Union.
Meanwhile, Sanchez said he hoped the EU could avoid a trade war with China, even though Brussels is considering imposing tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles.
At the meeting, Xi Jinping also discussed deepening economic and trade ties between China and the West in high-tech areas such as artificial intelligence, the digital economy and new energy.
Xi Jinping said China is willing to work with Brussels to further develop China-EU relations, maintain independence and achieve common success to benefit the world.
It is hoped that Spain will continue to play a constructive role in this regard.
Sánchez responded: “Spain wants to work constructively to make the relations between the two countries closer, richer and more balanced.”
In June, Beijing said a clash with the EU’s plan to impose tariffs of up to 36.3% on electric vehicles could trigger a trade conflict. This is what China saidThe call came days after the announcement of a retaliatory anti-dumping investigation into European pork imports .
In August, China stepped up its crackdown, launching an investigation into dairy subsidies across the 27-member bloc .
Speaking at a business event ahead of his meeting with Xi Jinping, Sanchez said Spain would join the WTO. It would try to reach a consensus through negotiations on the dispute, with a government source saying: “A trade war benefits nobody.”
Chinese customs data shows that Spain exported US$1.5 billion worth of pork products in 2023, which China will investigate, far less than the export volume of the Netherlands and Denmark, which ranked second and third.
Spain also sold about $50 million worth of targeted dairy products to China last year.
But in a promising sign for Spanish pork producers, a source with direct knowledge of Xi’s meeting with Sanchez said the two leaders had a disagreement when asked about possible restrictions on Spanish pork exports and that an understanding had been reached.
“The meeting went well,” the source said, adding that both men agreed and defended their positions.
Fair trade
“We want to build bridges together and safeguard the fair trade system,” Sanchez told Chinese Premier Li Keqiang before meeting Xi Jinping.
Spain’s trade deficit was 17.27 billion euros ($19.07 billion) in the first half of this year, according to government data.
Sánchez also wanted assurances that China would not retaliate to Brussels by raising import duties on gasoline-powered cars with larger engines , as Chinese state media has suggested.
Spain could also be affected by Chinese tariffs on electric vehicles. Last week, the CEO of SEAT-CUPRA said that if the European Commission continues to implement it as planned, (VOWG_p.DE) The car is designed by the Spanish CUPRA, manufactured in China, and affiliated with German Volkswagen.
On Tuesday, Sanchez is expected to meet representatives from SAIC Motor, one of the Chinese automakers most affected by the EU tariffs, and sign a memorandum of understanding with Spain-based Greentech Envision to build an electric vehicle battery factory.
“As you pointed out, in the context of growing geopolitics and economy, we should work together to resolve our differences through dialogue,” Sanchez told Xi.
In an advisory vote in July , Spain joined France and Italy in supporting the European Commission’s proposal to impose additional tariffs on Chinese-made electric vehicles on top of the Commission’s standard 10% tariff.
But Beijing called on EU member states to reject the sanctions in a final vote in October.
The fee will be imposed on top of the EU’s standard 10% import tax unless a qualified majority of the 15 EU member states, representing 65% of the bloc’s population, vote against it.
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