<\/p>\n
Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, right, speaks to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, center, and his wife Begona Gomez at the Xiaomi headquarters in Beijing, Monday, April 13, 2026. (Andres Martinez Casares\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Andres Martinez Casares\/AP<\/p>\n
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, center left, and his wife Begona Gomez arrive at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, Monday, April 13, 2026. (Andres Martinez Casares\/Pool Photo via AP)<\/p>\n
Andres Martinez Casares\/AP<\/p>\n
MADRID (AP) \u2014 Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez is in China again this week, his fourth trip in as many years to the world\u2019s number two economy as Spain seeks to strengthen its political and commercial ties with Beijing.<\/p>\n
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S\u00e1nchez\u2019s visit comes at a complex geopolitical moment as European leaders are trying to influence an end to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran. Meanwhile, Spain’s relationship with the U.S. has been strained, most recently due to S\u00e1nchez\u2019s vocal disapproval of the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran.<\/p>\n
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On Monday, S\u00e1nchez urged China to assume a bigger role in a multipolar world, speaking at Beijing\u2019s Tsinghua University a day before he is set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor example, by demanding … that international law be respected \u200band that the conflicts in Lebanon, Iran, Gaza and the West Bank and Ukraine cease,\u201d S\u00e1nchez \u200csaid.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what to know about the Spanish leader\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez is back in China, again<\/p>\n
Spain says it wants to diversify its political relations with the world\u2019s large powers, including Beijing.<\/p>\n
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Spanish officials have said the government wants to shore up more Chinese investment, and boost exports to the country, even though trade is conducted by the European Union, which negotiates on behalf of all 27 member states, including Spain.<\/p>\n
The southern European nation, which generates more than half its electricity from renewable sources, needs Chinese critical raw materials, solar panels and green technologies \u2014 similar to other European countries transitioning away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n
Politically, the trip comes as Spain has stuck its neck out in Europe as the continent\u2019s loudest critic of the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in the Middle East, with the S\u00e1nchez government recently declaring its airspace closed to U.S. planes being used in Iran, and refusing the U.S. the use of jointly operated military bases in southern Spain.<\/p>\n
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\u201cGiven the increased frictions with the U.S. administration, these annual meetings have taken on an increased importance,\u201d said Eric Sigmon, a Madrid-based political analyst and a former U.S. national security adviser, about S\u00e1nchez\u2019s latest trip to China.<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez is in China from April 13-15, and will hold talks Tuesday with Xi, Premier Li Qiang and China\u2019s top lawmaker, Zhao Leji, the third-ranking leader of its ruling Communist Party.<\/p>\n
Spain’s relationship with China is better than some other EU nations<\/p>\n
Spain, the eurozone\u2019s fourth-largest economy, has been less adversarial toward China than other EU countries in recent years. It has sought to reposition trade relations with China, whose exports to Spain are far greater than those of the Iberian nation of 49 million people to China, which has a population of more than 1.4 billion.<\/p>\n
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While Chinese investment in other large EU economies such as France and Germany has decreased over the past five years, according to the American Enterprise Institute think tank\u2019s China Global Investment Tracker, it has grown since 2019 in Spain, though investment figures remain below several European countries.<\/p>\n
Spain wants good ties with major global powers<\/p>\n
As a mid-size political power, Spain under S\u00e1nchez has said it wants to seek stronger bilateral ties with the world\u2019s large powers and economies, including China and, increasingly, India, in addition to its relationship with the U.S.<\/p>\n
Last November, Spain\u2019s King Felipe VI also made an official visit \u200cto \u2060China, the first time in 18 years that a Spanish monarch did so, demonstrating the nation\u2019s interest in bolstering ties with Beijing.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe economic and commercial part of the relationship is the most important part. Spain needs foreign capital and it needs investment and it likely sees China as a potential source for that,\u201d said Sigmon.<\/p>\n
For China, Spain serves as a \u201ca more friendly and conciliatory partner in Western Europe,\u201d he said, adding that the asymmetry in the relationship means it may be difficult for Spain to get Chinese negotiators to cede much in terms of technology, or other areas that the Spanish government has expressed interest in.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xiaomi founder Lei Jun, right, speaks to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, center, and his wife Begona Gomez…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3209,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[335,194,2311,31,2312,1561,2317,205,2313,2314,2315,2316,17,2310],"class_list":["post-3208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-spain","tag-china","tag-donald-trump","tag-eric-sigmon","tag-iran","tag-king-felipe-vi","tag-package-100024-ap-online","tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","tag-pedro-sanchez","tag-product-30597-ap-business-news-f-wire","tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","tag-product-31995-ap-online-general-financial-business-news","tag-product-32502-ap-online-europe-news","tag-spain","tag-spain-china-xi-jinping-iran-trump-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/spain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}