Lorraine Williamson
Pedro Sánchez has used a visit to Beijing to press China to take a bigger role in easing global conflicts while also pushing for a fairer economic relationship with Spain. Speaking at Tsinghua University on Monday, the Spanish prime minister said Beijing should do more on peace, international law, and global stability at a time when the world is becoming more fractured.
The message was political, but it was also commercial. Sánchez told his audience that China now accounts for 74% of Spain’s total trade deficit, a shortfall that Reuters says rose to almost $50 billion in 2025. Madrid wants that imbalance reduced by opening more space for Spanish agricultural and manufacturing exports.
A peace message with sharper edges
Sánchez’s language was broader than a standard trade mission. Reuters reported that he called on China to help address major international challenges, including climate change, security, defence, and inequality, while also urging stronger backing for international law. Spanish reporting from Beijing said he explicitly called on China to “do more” to help bring wars to an end and to use its weight more decisively in a fast-changing global order.
That matters because Spain is trying to carve out a more visible foreign-policy role at a moment when many governments are recalculating their relationships with both Washington and Beijing. Reuters says Sánchez’s approach has already caused friction with Donald Trump’s administration, particularly because Madrid has taken a more independent line on international crises and continues to treat China more as a strategic partner than a straightforward rival.
Trade is central to the visit
For Spain, though, the economic case is impossible to ignore. This is Sánchez’s fourth trip to China in four years, underlining how seriously Madrid is taking the relationship. Reuters reported earlier this month that the visit is aimed at deepening trade ties, encouraging more Chinese investment, and trying to narrow a deficit that has widened sharply in recent years. He is due to meet President Xi Jinping on Tuesday, with geopolitics and economic ties both expected to be on the agenda.
The balancing act is delicate. Spain wants closer trade links with the world’s second-largest economy, but it also wants to avoid looking economically dependent or politically naïve. That is why Sánchez’s speech tried to do two things at once: invite deeper cooperation while making clear that Spain expects more access, more balance, and a more responsible global role from Beijing.
Why this matters in Spain
For InSpain.news readers, this is not just distant diplomacy. It goes to the heart of how Spain positions itself in the world, how it protects its export interests, and how it responds to a period of growing international instability. It also matters domestically, because trade deficits, investment flows, and geopolitical tensions eventually filter down into jobs, prices, and business confidence at home.
The immediate test will come on Tuesday when Sánchez meets Xi. If the visit produces even modest movement on market access or export opportunities, Madrid will be able to present the trip as more than symbolic. If not, the headline will remain the same: Spain wants China to do more, both for peace and for fairer trade.