The Spanish Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez call today to “dialogue” and “cooperation” with Chinadespite all the trade tensions between Beijing and the European Union, on the first day of his visit to the Asian giant.

Opening the China-Spain Economic Forum in Beijing, Mr Sanchez praised the two countries’ “strong ties”.

“Despite the fact that there are issues on which our positions do not completely coincide, we maintain a constructive will for dialogue and cooperation,” he said in a video uploaded to X.

“We are committed to developing a positive program and finding solutions that will be beneficial to all parties,” he continued.

Mr. Sanchez he is expected to meet with his counterpart Li Chiang at the Palace of the People in Beijing after noon (local time) and then by President Xi Jinping and Zhao Leji, the third most important official in the Chinese political hierarchy.

The Spanish prime minister had met with Mr Xi during his most recent visit to China in March 2023, when he attended the Boao Forum of Asia — the equivalent of the Davos global economic forum — on the Chinese island of Hainan.

Tomorrow Tuesday and the day after Wednesday he will be in Shanghai, where he is expected to have meetings with politicians and businessmen and also to inaugurate the Cervantes Center, an institute of Spanish culture.

His arrival in China came on the heels of the arrival in Spain of Venezuela’s opposition presidential candidate in July’s election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who is contesting the re-election of President Nicolas Maduro.

Last Saturday, during a meeting of the leadership of the Socialist party, Mr. Sanchez assured that Madrid would not “abandon” Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, whom he described as a “hero.” Spain has announced that it will grant him asylum.

China has a close relationship with the government of Nicolas Maduro.

Mr Sanchez’s visit also comes against the backdrop of escalating trade tensions between the EU and China. The European Commission launched a series of procedures against the Asian giant in recent months. The file that is characterized as the most thorny is that of Chinese electric vehicles exported to European countries.

The Commission announced on August 20 its decision to proceed with the imposition of additional tariffs on electric vehicles produced in China, including those of the American manufacturer Tesla, which has a factory in Shanghai.

The next day, Beijing announced that it would launch an investigation into unfair EU trade practices in products such as dairy in particular.

It initiated a similar procedure for imports of pork and pork-based products imported from the European Union.

Spain is the biggest exporter of pork-based products to China: it exported more than 560,000 tonnes last year, worth 1.2 billion euros, according to industry body Interporc.