"Let's build a stronger relationship between China and the European Union". This was stated by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing, "Politico" reported.
"If these powers understand each other and cooperate, it will benefit their societies and contribute to the stability, peace and prosperity of the world in this delicate international climate," the Chinese president stressed.
He named Sanchez as a key mediator between Beijing and Brussels and said that, amid complex global relations, Spain and China have worked to build close ties that "contribute to stability" of his country's broader relations with the EU.
Xi Jinping praised Spain for being a country that acts "with moral integrity", referring to the clash between US President Donald Trump and Sanchez, who refused to support Washington's foreign policy and war with Iran.
He added that both Madrid and Beijing are "on the right side of history" and have pledged with the Spanish prime minister to work to "reject the world's return to the law of the jungle" and "jointly defend true multilateralism".
The meeting between Xi and Sanchez took place before a state banquet in honour of the Spanish leader, who is on his fourth visit to Beijing. The Spanish prime minister has long advocated stronger ties with China and has doubled down on those calls since Trump’s re-election, insisting that the EU should seek other global partners as transatlantic relations appear to be deteriorating.
These moves have not gone unnoticed in Washington. After Sanchez’s trip to Beijing last year, US Treasury Secretary Scott Besant said that Spain’s attempts to build closer trade ties with China were akin to "cutting one’s own throat".
Sanchez appears unfazed by the Trump administration’s warnings. During today’s meeting in Beijing, he again defended "EU-China relations based on trust, dialogue and stability" and the ultimate goal of "a multipolar order built on respect and pragmatism".
Brussels has increasingly supported Sanchez’s strategy. At POLITICO's "European Pulse" forum in Barcelona last week, European Commission Vice President and Commissioner for Industrial Strategy Stephane Séjournais said the EU needs Chinese investment and advised against following the US's isolationist stance towards Beijing.