Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has met with Chinese leaders today in a bid to ‘develop’ relations and ‘bring our societies closer together’.
The PSOE leader has ignored threats made by the Donald Trump administration, which said Spain would be ‘cutting its own throat’ by moving closer to the East Asian superpower.
In a post on X on Friday morning, Sanchez wrote: ‘This year, Spain and China celebrate the 20th anniversary of their comprehensive strategic partnership.
‘With President Xi Jinping, I discussed the new impetus we are giving to that partnership today, with a view to developing balanced and mutually beneficial relations and bringing our societies closer together.’
He later added: ‘The objective of the tour of Vietnam and China that we concluded today in Beijing has been achieved: to strengthen Spain’s presence in Asia.
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‘With this trip, we have taken a very important step in a complex time when we must expand our horizons.’
Sanchez was also expected to meet with the heads of several Chinese companies which produce electric batteries or renewable energy technologies.
His meeting comes as part of an Asia tour that has also included Vietnam. The visits were arranged before Trump announced his global tariffs but have now taken on more importance.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent criticised Spain for moving closer to China, saying it would be ‘cutting its own throat’, warning that Chinese manufacturers want to dump goods they can no longer sell in the US into the EU market.
Trump and Jinping are locked in a trade war as they continue to up tariffs, with the US now promising a 145% levy on all Chinese goods.
Sanchez is being accompanied by his Agriculture Minister Luis Planas.
Following their stop in Vietnam, he said: ‘Expanding the trade relations that we have with other countries, including a partner as important as China, does not go against anyone… everyone has to defend their own interests.’
Referencing Trump’s tariffs, Planas said his country’s China plan ‘contributes to the collective effort made by certain countries in the European Union to get out of this situation.’
Spain, as part of the EU, was initially slapped with 20% tariffs on all its goods imported to the US, on top of the ‘baseline 10%’ on all foreign imports.
The 20% has now been ‘paused’ for 90 days to give trading blocs and countries time to ‘negotiate’ with Trump.
The baseline tariff remains in place, as do 25% levies on cars, steel and aluminium coming from the EU.
China is the only country to be exempt from the 90-day pause. The latest escalation from Trump has seen tariffs on the country’s goods surge to 145%.
