Sánchez highlights Spain’s economic strength and its position in Europe to attract Chinese investment

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, This Tuesday, he highlighted Spain’s economic growth and its “open and competitive” business environment during his speech at the inauguration of the Spain-China business meeting held in the city of Shanghai.

“Few countries offer such favourable investment opportunities in an open and competitive environment as those offered by Spain. And let me give you three reasons. The first of these is that Spain is the fourth largest economy in the Eurozone. “It is currently experiencing higher growth than its European partners. In the second quarter of this year, we quadrupled the average growth of the European Union and the eurozone,” said Sánchez.

After that he recalled the “strategic location” of the country, which serves as a “natural bridge” between Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean and North Africa, in addition to its “dynamic” business ecosystem and its “highly qualified” human capital, with the aim of encouraging Chinese investments and balancing the trade balance between the two nations.

“Although China is our largest export market in Asia, it also represents 90 percent of the Spanish trade deficit in 2023 with China. So there is enough room to intensify and balance our trade relations, and we want it to be that way. But it is in the area of ​​investments where I think there is a problem. Of course, it is great news that there are more and more Spanish companies investing in China, but I also think that Spain represents a great active player in terms of investment and development. I am happy that more and more Chinese companies are achieving this,” he added.

The Spanish president urged Chinese and Spanish businessmen to cooperate in sectors considered as “fundamental axes” of both countries, which are the green economy, technology and high-tech industry, with the aim of creating “wealth and jobs.”

Likewise, he spoke of the orientation of the Spanish economy towards “innovation, towards digitalization, towards decarbonization”, which makes Spain a “attractive destination” where companies can “innovate and respond quickly to market changes.”

“But we do not want this relationship to remain only in bilateral trade. We aspire to continue expanding it to third markets. Spanish and Chinese companies already act as global partners and add their capacities, for example in Latin America. I am convinced that we must strengthen our cooperation in markets with enormous potential, like the Asian continent and the African continent,” Sanchez added.

Dialogue between China and the EU

He also said that China’s current needs, which focus on increasing domestic consumer demand and promoting the digital technology sector, urbanization, rural modernization and clean energy, represent “great opportunities for Spanish companies”, although he also said that he highlighted the consumer, food and industrial technology sectors as sectors in which to develop Spanish exports.

As he had done before, the Spanish president called for an “honest dialogue” between China and the European Union to “reduce existing tensions” caused by Beijing’s imposition of tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles and imports of pork and other products.

“We also want a European Union and a China that are open to the world, beyond geopolitical and geoeconomic realities. (…) What we are ultimately advocating is a negotiated and agreed solution within the framework of the World Trade Organization, which helps to develop a balance and fair economic relations that avoid any type of trade escalation that would benefit no one,” he said.