Xi Jinping receives King Felipe VI and highlights the "friendly cooperation" between China and Spain

BarcelonaKing Felipe VI and Chinese President Xi Jinping met this Wednesday in Beijing on the second day of the monarch's official visit to China. The leader of the Asian giant received the Spanish head of state at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, a venue reserved for high-level events and visits. During the meeting, which took place against the backdrop of a trade war, President Xi highlighted the "friendly cooperation" between his country and Spain, while Felipe VI emphasized the "relationship of trust" between the two nations. This visit by Felipe VI is his first to China since ascending the throne, but it follows the path already forged by Pedro Sánchez and Salvador Illa in building alliances with that country. The tone of the meeting was cordial, expressing mutual respect and even a friendly atmosphere. Xi Jinping has described King Felipe VI as "a good friend of the Chinese people" and indicated that China is willing to work with Spain to build a "comprehensive strategic partnership" that is "steadier in its direction" and will allow it to "contribute even more significantly to the prosperity, peace, and development of the world." These statements would suggest that the Asian giant is engaged in a tariff escalation in which Spain is also involved, through the European Commission in recent years. has applied tariffs to electric cars manufactured in ChinaRates at which The Asian giant responded this September with the announcement of tariffs on European pork.Spain is the world's leading supplier of pork to China. Despite this context, Xi Jinping emphasized that Spain and China have contributed together "to upholding international fairness and justice," and King Felipe VI affirmed that "the friendship" between the two countries "benefits both peoples." In this atmosphere, and after a meeting lasting more than an hour, the delegations from each country signed ten documents intended to strengthen bilateral relations, including three memoranda of understanding, three protocols, a convention, an agreement, and a declaration. Among these documents, the agreement to establish a "one-stop shop" to expedite procedures for Spanish companies doing business in China stands out. The King and Queen's official agenda in China began on Tuesday and will continue until Thursday. Yesterday, the monarchs visited the city of Chengdu, where King Felipe VI presided over a business forum. The visit, held to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership—a series of alliances and agreements between Spain and China—will conclude this Thursday with, among other events, the meeting of the Spain-China Business Advisory Council in Beijing, which will be chaired by the monarch.

Sánchez and Isla look towards China

Spain's and Catalonia's rapprochement with China is not new. For months, the national government and the Catalan regional government have been working to establish alliances with the Asian giant, especially following Donald Trump's rise to power and the numerous clashes with the United States. Just over a year ago, in September 2014, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez traveled to China to try to bridge the gap with Xi Jinping, with whom he met. From Beijing, Sánchez called for dialogue to avoid a tariff escalation and stated that he hoped the EU could "avoid a trade war" with the country led by Xi.

Months later, in the middle of this summer, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, also traveled to China as part of the Government's plans for Catalonia to be a "reliable partner" in Asia within the context of a realignment of political and commercial alliances on the international stage. This Tuesday, the government approved the Asia Plan, which aims precisely to establish the continent as a "priority" in international policy. In May, Illa had already traveled to Japan and Korea, and during his stay in China, he sought to consolidate Catalonia's role in the Asian country, with meetings with executives from various companies, meetings with political representatives such as the Vice Chairman of the National People's Congress of China, Wu Weiha, and the announcement of alignment with the investiture agreement with ERC, which called for consolidating and expanding the network of delegations.