China wants partnership with EU to counter US abuse says envoy to Spain

MADRID - China wants to deal with the European Union as a partner instead of a rival, its ambassador to Spain said, amid shifting geopolitics and Washingtons new trade policy which he described as unilateral economic abuse.

Yao Jing told Reuters the EUs 2019 strategy that defined China as its partner for cooperation, economic competitor and systemic rival made little sense as both championed open markets and rules-based trade.

We should put our focus on partnership. China will never be a threat or any kind of enemy to the EU, Yao said, praising the blocs multilateral approach to foreign affairs, as opposed to President Donald Trumps isolationist agenda.

Last week, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met with President Xi Jinping in Beijing. The visit was widely seen as a bid to forge closer economic and political ties between China and Europe amid the fallout from Trumps tariffs.

Just before Sanchezs trip, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that moving closer to the Asian country would be cutting your own throat, a comment dismissed by Madrid.

Yao said he was shocked by Bessents remarks, adding that the U.S. in fact cuts everyones throats with its unilateral tariffs.

And this is why China is firmly against this kind of economic abuse by the United States, he said.

OPEN DOOR

Yao said Europe should drop its export controls on certain high-tech products, including semiconductors, as well as tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) and limitations for Chinese companies such as Huawei or ZTE to access Europes 5G network.

Beijing, in its turn, has been opening up sectors such as telecommunications, banking or manufacturing for foreign investment, he said.

Yao said the EUs trade deficit with China, of around $345 billion last year, could not disappear overnight due to structural issues, but expected gradual