Will Spain sign a Belt and Road Initiative MoU?

World
Europe

03:57

Spanish companies seem to keen to get on board with the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was proposed by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013. But will the country sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on it with China?

“Spain is probably going to sign up with the Belt and Road Initiative,” commented Professor John Gong from the University of International Business and Economics.

From Gong's perspective, Spain may have some concerns over the BRI – just like its neighboring countries within the European Union (EU), but it's probably “not so much opposite to” the initiative being developed in other European countries.

"The voice of dissent within the European Union is most from [countries like] Germany, Holland and France. And also most of Belt and Road [projects] are centered in Southern Europe, Central Europe and Eastern Europe areas. Spain doesn't lose lots of businesses from that initiative, unlike Germany and Holland," he explained.

"Also, I would like to make the point that Madrid is also the termination for the China-European railroad. So, from Spain's perspective, there are some businesses [already] operating there and gaining benefits," Gong added.

Professor John Gong from the University of International Business and Economics is in an interview with CGTN. /CGTN Screenshot

Meanwhile, Spain's trade chief Xiana Margarida Méndez reaffirmed China's status as Spain's main trade partner in Asia at this year's China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai.

Official figures showed that bilateral trade between China and Spain hit 31.33 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up 7.5 percent from last year. China's exports to Spain reached 24.26 billion U.S. dollars last year, while imports from Spain amounted to 7.07 billion U.S. dollars.

Regarding the future of China-Spain trade ties, the professor prioritized reducing Spain's trade deficit with China, which stood at 17.19 billion U.S. dollars last year. He advised increasing Spanish exports to China, rather than limiting Chinese exports to Spain.

"Overall, China is very keen on increasing more imports. And there are many good products from Spain that Chinese people can enjoy. There is room for increasing more imports from Spain. As long as the two governments take cooperative attitudes and work together to mitigate trade deficit, there is great future over there."

"But the idea is not to cut back [on] Chinese exports to Spain, but to increase Spanish imports to China. That's the most important thing," he stressed.