MADRID — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez is in China again this week, his fourth trip in just over three years to the world\u2019s number two economy as Spain seeks to strengthen its political and commercial ties with Beijing.<\/p>\n
His visit comes at a complex geopolitical moment as European leaders try to influence an end to the U.S.-Israeli war in Iran, and as Spain’s relationship with the U.S. has been strained by S\u00e1nchez\u2019s vocal disapproval<\/a> of the conflict.<\/p>\n On Monday, S\u00e1nchez urged China to assume a larger 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 \u201cChina can do more. For 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 Spain says it wants to diversify its political relations with the world\u2019s large powers, including Beijing.<\/p>\n 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.<\/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<\/a> being used in Iran, and refusing the U.S. the use of jointly operated military bases<\/a> in southern Spain.<\/p>\n \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, 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 people.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez’s government has had little success, with China accounting for about 74% of Spain’s overall trade gap.<\/p>\n \u201cThis repeated annual pilgrimage by S\u00e1nchez \u2014 his fourth in four (calendar) years \u2014 highlights an increasingly one-sided and unbalanced relationship,\u201d said Alicia Garc\u00eda-Herrero, chief economist for Asia Pacific at the French investment bank Natixis. <\/p>\n For China, Spain serves as a relatively soft, conciliatory partner that advocates for dialogue over tougher EU measures, Garc\u00eda-Herrero said.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez, speaking in Beijing on Monday, said the EU had done its part, however slow-moving, to balance trade, and urged China to follow suit.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need China to do the same. To open up so that Europe doesn\u2019t have to close itself off,\u201d he said.<\/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