There are no winners in a tariff war and China is not afraid of oppression, Chinese President Xi Jinping told visiting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday.
Xi was speaking during his first meeting with a foreign leader since the tit-for-tat tariff clashes between Beijing and Washington started.
“There are no winners in the tariff war and standing against the world ultimately results in self-isolation,” Xi said, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Sanchez was also the first European leader to visit China following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping tariffs.
He has visited the country three times within the space of just over two years, underscoring his stated ambition of helping to build a more balanced relationship between the European Union and China.
China was the second and last stop of his Asian trip following a visit to Vietnam.
