On April 11, 2026, a Spanish government plane landed at Beijing Capital International Airport. When Prime Minister Sanchez stepped out of the hatch, it had been only a year since he last set foot on this land. Visiting four times in four years, this European leader measured with his footsteps the ever shrinking diplomatic distance between Madrid and Beijing.

Four years and four visits to consolidate the foundation of mutual trust

Since his first visit to China in 2023, Sanchez has made a total of four trips to the East. After arriving in Beijing, the high-level closed door talks between the two countries lasted for nearly three hours, far exceeding the original agenda. The two sides have finally finalized a list of cooperation covering emerging fields such as green energy, electric vehicle industry chain, and cross-border data flow, and promised to establish a joint working group to track and implement it.

Southern Europe Gateway connects both ends of Asia and Europe

Spain has the busiest port cluster and mature high-speed rail network in southern Europe, with Barcelona Port experiencing a 40% surge in transit volume for Chinese goods last year. China intends to use Spain as a springboard to expand its products and investments to North Africa and the Spanish speaking regions of Latin America. Madrid, on the other hand, looks forward to more Chinese electric vehicle brands setting up factories locally and leveraging the large European market. Keywords: the Belt and Road News Network, China EU Cooperation

Searching for the largest convention within a multilateral framework

The joint statement of the talks specifically emphasized at length the need to maintain smooth global supply chains, without naming any third party, but its directionality is self-evident. Both sides agreed to coordinate their positions on issues such as WTO reform and global governance of artificial intelligence, and agreed to jointly host the High Level Forum on Eurasian Connectivity in Madrid in 2027. The handshake at this moment may cast a set star for the turbulent European economic and trade landscape.Editor/Gao Xue