BEIJING/MADRID, April 14 (Reuters) – Europe and China need to strengthen ties to combat threats to multilateralism, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said on Tuesday, after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who declared that the international order is ‘crumbling’.
Sánchez’s April 11-15 visit to China comes at a time when many Western governments are seeking warmer ties with Beijing despite persistent trade and security tensions, with growing unease about U.S. President Donald Trump’s policies.
He is the latest in a series of leaders from the United Kingdom, Canada, Finland and Ireland to visit China this year.
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During the meeting with Sánchez, Xi said the international order was ‘crumbling’ and that deeper ties were in the interests of China and Spain, according to comments provided to the media.
Spain has been one of the biggest advocates of expanding trade and treating China as a strategic ally rather than the economic and geopolitical rival seen by Trump.
Sánchez called on the world’s second-largest economy to take a greater role on issues ranging from climate change to security, defense and the fight against inequality, saying the US has decided to withdraw from many of these fronts.
At a press conference, the Spanish leader said that Beijing had agreed to measures to reduce his country’s trade deficit of almost US$50 billion with Beijing.
He added that later on Tuesday he would sign several agreements with Premier Li Qiang, including expanding access for Spanish agricultural products to China and improving Spain’s transportation and infrastructure. He did not provide further details.
