Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing, capital of China, March 31, 2023. Photo:Xinhua

On the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Spain, leaders of the two countries met in Beijing on Friday, agreeing to take the opportunity to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation. While meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed that Europe should maintain strategic independence when dealing with relations with China.

Experts believe that Sanchez's visit shows that both sides greatly value the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties. It also serves as a good start for a series of upcoming visits to Beijing by European leaders, which demonstrated China's positive attitude toward working with Europe, but also a reminder that Europe should walk in the same direction as China.

Sanchez began his two-day trip to China on Thursday. He is the first leader of a European country to visit China this year, and only the second to China since the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago after German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's trip in 2022.

Over the past half century, China and Spain have adhered to the principles of mutual respect, exchange and dialogue, actively carried out mutually beneficial cooperation, and established and developed a comprehensive strategic partnership. China is ready to work with Spain to use the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties as a new starting point to deepen and strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries, Xi said during his meeting with Sanchez.

"The sound development of China-European Union relations requires the EU to uphold strategic independence," Xi said, adding that China is ready to carry out comprehensive cooperation with the EU in the spirit of independence, mutual respect, mutual benefit, and seeking common ground while shelving differences.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing, capital of China, March 31, 2023. Photo:Xinhua

The visit suggested the two sides are willing to take the opportunity to bring the relations to the next level, and also that the positive political atmosphere between the two sides will continue while economic and trade cooperation will remain on a steady growth trajectory, experts said.

Europe's position has been increasingly aligning with the US. Xi's remarks are a reminder for Europe to review its stances based on its own interests, rather than blindly following in the US' footsteps, Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times on Friday.

"As the world is full of uncertainties, it is only through cooperation that countries can meet various challenges more effectively and promote world peace and global development," the Spanish prime minister said.

Spain is willing to maintain candid communication and dialogue with China, constantly enhance mutual trust, deepen mutually beneficial cooperation, especially in areas such as electric vehicles, green energy and digital economy, strengthen communication and coordination on international and regional issues such as climate change, and jointly promote the further development of bilateral relations, Sanchez said.

As Spain will take over the rotating presidency of the EU in the second half of this year, it will commit itself to promoting dialogue and cooperation between the EU and China, Sanchez noted.

Following Sanchez will be French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will visit China together next week.

In a speech in Brussels on Thursday, von der Leyen acknowledged that EU-China relations had become "more distant and more difficult" in recent years, but said "it is neither viable - nor in Europe's interest - to decouple from China."

Cui Hongjian, director of the Department of European Studies at the China Institute of International Studies, noted that the series of high-level interactions may contribute to stronger ties and a more favorable environment for the development of China-EU relations.

It is also hoped that the stability and progress in China-Spain relations can serve as a positive example for other EU countries as they debate their policies toward China, Cui told the Global Times.

Xi's meeting with the Spanish leader demonstrated China's positive attitude toward working with Europe, Sun noted, but it also reminds Europe to walk in the same direction as China.

Upcoming visits by European leaders are essential for communication, managing differences and expanding potential cooperation fields, the expert said.

Ahead of his visit to Beijing, Sanchez said the world should listen to China's voice in order to find a way out of the Ukraine crisis. "China is a global actor, so obviously we must listen to its voice to see if between all of us, we can put an end to this war," he said during a meeting in Madrid.