 | ||
History
Contact between China and Spain first occurred between Ming dynasty China and the Spanish ruled Philippines.
Spain fantasized about taking over China.
The Qing dynasty and Spain had diplomatic relations.
The Republic of China had diplomatic relations with Spain under Franco.
Sino-Spanish relations began in 1973 after both countries were still reeling from the aftermath of civil wars.
Relations have gradually improved with official state visits between the two countries and various exchanges. Spain hosted Expo 2008 which China was a participant at, and China then hosted Expo 2010, where Spain had a pavilion.
Bilateral relations
The volume of trade between the two countries has grown considerably in recent years. Total trade stood at $7.2 billion USD in 2004, and had increased to $22.7 billion by October 2008.
As a consequence, China has become Spain's sixth largest trading partner.
Recently, Spain held the rotating EU presidency from Jan 1 to June 30, 2010, and indicated they would support a lift in the EU Arms embargo to boost two-way trade because in 2008, China's exports to the EU were 248 billion euros ($357 billion), but imports were only 78 billion euros. This could improve trade between the EU and China by allowing China to import higher technology goods for which the Europeans are known.
Trade
While most cargoes are shipped between China and Europe (including Spain) by sea, there are direct container trains running from Yiwu (Zhejiang Province) to Madrid as well.