Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday urged the European Union to join Beijing in resisting “unilateral bullying”, state media Xinhua reported.
The Chinese president’s remarks come amid the trade war between China and the United States as President Donald Trump imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods.
Xi Jinping made the comments as he met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing.
“China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities… and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,” Xi said, according to AFP.
The Chinese president stressed that this would not only “safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, but also… safeguard international fairness and justice.”
Sanchez, in turn, said tensions over trade should not impede cooperation between the European Union and China.
“Both Spain and Europe have a significant trade deficit with China that we must work to rectify,” he said, according to AFP.
“…We must not let trade tensions stand in the way of the potential growth of the relationship between China and Spain and between China and the EU.”