China s vice president visits Spain as mutual courtship blossoms

MADRID - China’s Vice-President Han Zheng arrived in Spain on June 10 for a four-day trip during which he will meet with King Felipe and Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, a further sign of increasingly close economic and political ties.

Mr Han’s visit is taking place two months after Mr Sanchez visited Beijing for the third time in as many years. There, he sought to woo China’s President Xi Jinping as global trade reels from US President Donald Trump’s tariffs policy.

The Socialist premier has been vying to position Madrid as an interlocutor between China and the European Union, as well as to attract more Chinese investment in advanced technology such as batteries, electric vehicles and hydrogen.

In 2024, auto maker Stellantis and Chinese battery maker CATL announced plans to build one of Europes largest EV battery factories in Spain.

However, not all is idyllic in Spains relations with China. Beijings anti-dumping inquiry into EU pork launched in 2024 in retaliation for Brussels tariffs on Chinese EVs hit Spain, a top exporter, hard.

Mr Sanchezs last visit to China, however, clinched expanded access for Spanish exports of pork stomach - a product widely consumed in China but not previously authorised.

Mr Han will meet Mr Sanchez on the morning of June 11 in Madrid, Mr Sanchezs office said, while King Felipe will receive the Chinese official on June 12, according to the royal households agenda.

The Spanish monarch is also scheduled to visit China later this year to commemorate the signing of a strategic partnership 20 years ago.

After his meetings with Mr Sanchez and Spains King, Mr Han is set to travel to Seville to meet Andalusias regional leader, Mr Juan Manuel Moreno, who in 2024 secured over €2.5 billion (S$3.6 billion) of Chinese investments in the southern Spanish region.