Chinese leader meets visiting Spanish PM who is in Beijing looking to strengthen bilateral ties amid tensions with US
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenMeredith ChenPublished: 5:00pm, 14 Apr 2026China and Spain should work closely to resist “the law of the jungle” and defend true multilateralism in a turbulent world caught in “a contest between justice and power”, Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in a meeting on Tuesday.
The meeting came after both sides strongly condemned the US-Israel miliary actions on Iran and criticised the US blockade of Iranian ports.
Sanchez, who landed in Beijing on Saturday for a five-day trip, is on his fourth visit to China in four years, as Madrid looks to strengthen bilateral ties with Beijing amid intensified tensions with Washington.
Xi’s remarks came as the US blockade of Iran’s ports was coming into effect, after hours of talks in Islamabad over the weekend failed to yield a deal to end the Israel-US war on Iran.
“Today’s world is in turmoil, caught in a contest between justice and power,” Xi was quoted as saying by state news broadcaster CCTV, without referring to the Middle East situation.
“How a country treats international law and the international order reflects its world view, its vision of order, its values and its sense of responsibility,” he said.
China and Spain are both “principled nations that uphold justice and are willing to stand on the right side of history”.
