China, Spain pen deals to deepen ties ahead of Sanchez’s talks with Xi

Beijing, Mar 31 (EFE).- China’s prime minister, Li Qiang, welcomed his Spanish counterpart, Pedro Sánchez, in Beijing on Friday and praised his commitment to deepening ties.

Sánchez met Li in the Great Hall of the People, in Tiananmen Square, ahead of his meeting with president Xi Jinping.

“We began a busy agenda of meeting in Beijing with the aim of relaunching bilateral relations between the two countries, both commercial and cultural, and addressing the global geostrategic situation,” Sánchez said after talks with Li.

The Spanish PM and his delegation were received with military honors before the meeting which was followed by a joint press conference.

The Chinese premier, who held talks with Sánchez Thursday at the Boao Economic Forum, said that Spain played “an important role in regional and international affairs.”

Li championed Sánchez’s efforts in promoting ties between Europe and China and highlighted that the visit coincided with the 50th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Madrid and Beijing.

The Chinese premier said Beijing was keen to boost trade with Spain for solar panels and other key imports such as olive oil and wine.

Sánchez called for greater international cooperation at the Boao Forum on Thursday and Li agreed that in order to tackle the current “uncertain and unstable” economic outlook multilateralism was the answer.

“China will always stay committed to win-win cooperation with countries around the world,” the Chinese premier added.

Both countries penned an executive plan for cooperation until 2026 that includes protocols for export of agricultural products, agreements in education and phytosanitary measures and a memorandum of understanding for collaboration in sports matters.

Sánchez and Li did not discuss the ongoing war on Ukraine. The Spanish premier is expected to broach the subject later in his meeting with president Xi.EFE

BB/ch