Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s official visit to China in September saw much of the global media engrossed with the “trade dispute” between China and the EU over electric vehicles and China’s anti-dumping probe into European pork imports, and foreboding its escalation into a trade war. However, soon after arriving in Beijing on September 8, Sanchez dismissed such speculations with one post on his X account, “Our aim is to maintain the political momentum of the bilateral relationship, strengthen economic and trade relations and support Spanish culture, education and science in China.”
Attendees of the ninth meeting of the China-Spain Forum pose for a group photo after its conclusion on September 9, 2024.
Sound Political Foundation
When Chinese President Xi Jinping met Sanchez on September 9, Xi’s message was that the two nations should adhere to their original intention of establishing diplomatic ties based on mutual respect and equal treatment, take a holistic and long-term view of the bilateral ties, and add new dimensions to them. In the meeting with Premier Li Qiang, they both agreed to strengthen exchanges in a wide range of fields from new energy and digital economy to space, culture, and education, and several bilateral cooperation agreements were signed.
This was Sanchez’s second visit to China in two years, showing the importance he gives to the relationship, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. Next year will be the 20th anniversary of the elevation of the China-Spain diplomatic ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership.
On September 9, Sanchez and Chinese Vice Premier Liu Guozhong opened the ninth meeting of the China-Spain Forum, co-sponsored by the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the Spain-China Council Foundation. The forum has a role in consolidating the bilateral relationship and the recent session continued the work, with its focus on local-level cooperation, people-to-people exchanges, tourism, culture, education, trade, and industrial innovation.
Liu pointed out three key directions for the two partners to work together in: improving bilateral trade and investment cooperation; expanding cooperation in green development; and accentuating people-to-people exchange and cooperation.
On September 11, after meeting the press, Sanchez said in another post on X, “China is a key partner in addressing major international challenges and, alongside the European Union, plays a central role in the world. Although there may be differences, the commonalities are more important. And to achieve this, we must continue to cooperate. Spain will continue to build bridges to help build a strong relationship between the two regions.”
Amid the trade frictions between China and the EU, Sanchez’s China visit, by itself, can be interpreted as a gesture to seek reconciliation and a feasible solution for differences, according to Ding Yifan, a research fellow with the Development Research Center of the State Council.
Booming Cooperation
China is Spain’s largest trade partner outside the EU, and Spain is China’s fifth largest trade partner within the EU. The bilateral trade expanded from US $37.9 billion in 2020 to US $48.6 billion in 2023, according to the China Chamber of International Commerce. Notably, Spain is the biggest pork exporter to China within the EU, taking up more than 20 percent of China’s pork imports.
In an advisory vote in July among EU members on electric vehicles from China, Spain had backed the duties. But the Spanish prime minister obviously changed his mind when meeting the press in China on September 11, saying, “Frankly speaking, all of us – not just the EU members but also the European Commission – need to reconsider this decision. Just as I said before, we don’t need another war. For Spain, we will work constructively and try to find a solution between China and the EU, a compromise solution.”
“Economic cooperation is one of the most important aspects of the bilateral ties,” said former Spanish ambassador Manuel Valencia, who is now vice president of Técnicas Reunidas International, a leading engineering and construction corporation in the energy sector. Valencia spoke of the organization’s cooperation projects with China in promoting green energy in China and third countries, stressing China’s role in promoting green energy around the world and creating development opportunities for other countries.
At the China-Spain Business Forum in Shanghai on September 10, Sanchez indicated his optimism about China’s economic development. In an interview with the media, he expressed his hope to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, given China’s booming development in the sector. Some European auto makers can learn from Chinese NEV brands’ technologies, he remarked.
China’s Chery Automobile and Spain’s Ebro-EV Motors signed a pact in April to develop new models of electric vehicles through a joint venture in Barcelona. This makes Chery the first Chinese automaker to produce vehicles in Europe. At an event marking the alliance Sanchez called the agreement part of “a genuine nationwide commitment to smart and sustainable mobility” that could “turn Spain into a major European electromobility hub,” Xinhua reported.
Feng Ping, deputy general manager of Chery International, told the China-Spain Forum that Chery and Ebro-EV Motors will leverage their respective advantage in technology supply chain and localization to advance the joint venture: “Chery’s green technology will be used in the renovation and operation of Ebro-EV Motors plants to reduce carbon emission.”
In science and technology development and application, Tecnalia, the largest center of applied research and technological development in Spain, has joined forces with Jiangning Economic and Technological Development Zone and Eurosmart Intelligent Technology Research Institute in Nanjing in east China, and founded an innovation center to promote technological innovation cooperation in industries between China and Spain.
“It mainly focuses on smart manufacturing, perfectly complementing our capacity in industrial robots and smart manufacturing,” said Jesus Valero, director general of Tecnalia, at the China-Spain Forum. “I believe openness and innovation hold the key for competitiveness in the future, which is not just about a specific company, but about a country’s competitiveness. This is why we come to China to have the cooperation.” Valero told China Today, “We want to learn about China’s technical advancement, the new industrial models and how the country encourage innovation.”
Sanchez told the press he felt the vitality of China’s economic and social development and the great potential of bilateral cooperation in such fields as new energy, high-end manufacturing and third market cooperation.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks at the ninth meeting of the China-Spain Forum on September 9. Photos by Zhang Hui
Stronger Links
People-to-people exchanges are another facet of the bilateral relations that has been gaining steam, especially with the inauguration of Spain’s consulate in Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan Province in March 2022. “We hope more Chinese citizens will visit Spain,” Sanchez said at the China-Spain Forum. He also promised to simplify the visa regime by working together with China, and predicted bilateral tourism will outperform expectations in 2024.
On September 10, an Instituto Cervantes was opened in Shanghai, becoming Spain’s second cultural center in China, following the Instituto Cervantes in Beijing, which was established in 2006. At the inauguration, Sanchez said Spain is one of the EU’s most active countries in studying the Chinese language. Around 60,000 people are learning Chinese in Spain, mainly through the Confucius institutes. A China Cultural Center opened in Madrid in 2005 and another center in Barcelona is said to be in the pipeline. Meanwhile, in China more than 60,000 people are learning Spanish – in over 200 primary and middle schools and 100-plus universities across the country.
In Shanghai, the bilateral cultural exchanges have gone beyond language learning. A series of Spanish art exhibitions held at museums like “The Greats of Six Centuries: Masterpieces from the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza” and those in the art space of Shanghai Subway have given Chinese easy reach to the work of Spanish masters.
Moreover, apart from such high-profile exchange platforms as the China-Spain Forum and the Instituto Cervantes, a series of international seminars and symposiums have been sponsored by governmental departments, enterprises, and the private sector to promote bilateral exchanges in various fields, enhancing the mutual understanding of the two peoples.
Chinese company Shenzhen Airlines’ maiden direct flight on August 28, 2023 between Shenzhen in south China and Barcelona marked another new addition to the Spanish city’s connections with China. At the China-Spain Forum, Maria Eugenia Gay, second deputy mayor of Barcelona, emphasized how Barcelona’s sister-city partnerships with Shanghai and Shenzhen and cooperation partnerships with other Chinese cities like Guangzhou and Chengdu have promoted the Spanish city’s exchanges with China, boosting mutual development in many fields.
Many Chinese companies are participating in the international events hosted by Barcelona like the Mobile World Congress and Smart City Expo World Congress. “All this has greatly enhanced people’s mutual understanding and exchanges between the two countries,” Gay said. At the forum Sanchez announced that a Chinese architecture exhibition will be held in Barcelona next year.
Dynamic exchanges in an array of fields underpin the sound development of the bilateral ties. “Despite the divergence on some issues, we both share the willingness to have dialogues and negotiations with each other. We commit to seek solutions on the basis of mutual benefit and consensus,” Sanchez told the forum.
