China seeks allies in Portugal, Spain despite EU reservations

China, currently engaged in a trade war with the United States, is seeking to strengthen its ties with Spain and Portugal as other European Union members are trying to restrict Chinese investments.

China’s President Xi Jinping began a three day visit to Spain on Tuesday on his way to a meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Argentina, and will stop in neighbouring Portugal on December 4-5 on his return home.

“It’s a political manoeuvre to maintain ties at a complicated time for China,” Angel Sanchez, the director of the Centre for Global Economy and Geopolitics at Spain’s ESADE Business School, told the news agency

The United States has imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion in Chinese goods in an attempt to pressure the country to reverse alleged unfair trade practices and US President Donald Trump this week warned he might impose tariffs on its remaining $267 billion in imports from the Asian giant, including iPhones made in China.

European member states, meanwhile, are poised to decide on a European framework for assessing foreign investment wanted by EU heavyweights France and Germany in order to screen acquisitions by foreign companies, mainly Chinese, in strategic sectors such as energy.

Paris, Berlin and to a lesser extent Rome are concerned that foreign groups are seeking to pilfer key technologies by buying their companies and have long called for European legislation to filter certain acquisitions.

Now is the time for Chinese leaders to make public statements to try and assuage the concerns of EU member states, said Angel Saz Carranza.

Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist for IHS Markit, added that “even if the EU agrees some screening process, in the end it’s still up to each individual country to decide what they want,”

By focusing on Spain and Portugal, China is looking for the “weak underbelly for Chinese investment in Europe and consolidate” the assets already acquired in the two countries despite reservations of other European Union member states, the president of Paris-based think tank Asia Centre, Jean-Francois Di Meglio, told the news agency.

 

China seeks allies in Portugal, Spain despite EU reservations

China, currently engaged in a trade war with the United States, is seeking to strengthen its ties with Spain and Portugal as other European Union members are trying to restrict Chinese investments. Chinas President Xi Jinping began a three day visit to Spain on Tuesday on his way to a meeting of Group of 20 leaders in Argentina, and will stop in neighbouring Portugal on December 4-5 on his return home. Its a political manoeuvre to maintain ties at a complicated time for China, Angel Sanchez, the director of the Centre for Global Economy and Geopolitics at Spains ESADE Business School, told the news agency The United States has imposed tariffs on more than $250 billion in Chinese goods in an attempt to pressure the country to reverse alleged unfair trade practices and US President Donald Trump this week warned he might impose tariffs on its remaining $267 billion in imports from the Asian giant, including iPhones made in China. European member states, meanwhile, are poised to decide on a European framework for assessing foreign investment wanted by EU heavyweights France and Germany in order to screen acquisitions by foreign companies, mainly Chinese, in strategic sectors such as energy. Paris, Berlin and to a lesser extent Rome are concerned that foreign groups are seeking to pilfer key technologies by buying their companies and have long called for European legislation to filter certain acquisitions. Now is the time for Chinese leaders to make public statements to try and assuage the concerns of EU member states, said Angel Saz Carranza. Rajiv Biswas, Asia Pacific chief economist for IHS Markit, added that even if the EU agrees some screening process, in the end its still up to each individual country to decide what they want, By focusing on Spain and Portugal, China is looking for the weak underbelly for Chinese investment in Europe and consolidate the assets already acquired in the two countries despite reservations of other European Union member states, the president of Paris-based think tank Asia Centre, Jean-Francois Di Meglio, told the news agency.