Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during the conference "Vocational Training and Business: the alliance that drives the future," at the Ministry of Education, on February 4, 2026, in Madrid, Spain. Photo: VCG

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is planning to travel to China in mid-April, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, US local time, citing an unnamed personal familiar with the preparations. 

The Chinese government authorities have yet to announce or confirm schedule for the visit as of press time. 

If it goes ahead, according to the Bloomberg, the trip will be Sanchez's fourth China visit since 2023, and follows a visit by King Felipe VI in November 2025. The Spanish prime minister will travel with a group of business leaders, the person familiar with the preparations for the trip told the Bloomberg. 

Miguel Otero-Iglesias, a senior analyst at the Madrid-based Elcano Royal Institute, said the prime minister had suggested in the past that visits to China should be an annual event, South China Morning Post reported on Wednesday.

"[Sanchez] said before that he wanted to go to China every year because I think he believes that China is important and that high-level visits are important to consolidate the relationship," Otero-Iglesias said, per the report.

Sanchez visited China last time in April 2025 and he was the first of a series of European leaders to head east following the announcement by US President Donald Trump of sweeping global trade tariffs.  

As a result of Sanchez last visit to China, according to La Moncloa, Spain and China have reached seven agreements aimed at facilitating the sale of various Spanish food, health and cosmetic products to China, as well as increasing collaboration between the two countries in areas such as culture, science and education.

The two sides have also adopted a new Action Plan to strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries in the year of its 20th anniversary.

Spain is distinctive within the European Union, and in its dealings with the US and other European countries it has consistently maintained a strong sense of strategic autonomy, Li Haidong, a professor at China Foreign Affairs University, told the Global Times on Thursday. As a result, Spain can take a pragmatic, rational approach to its China policy, he said.

Li added that China-Spain relations, grounded in mutual respect and a win-win spirit, have developed steadily. In recent years Spain has shown a clear commitment to sustaining and strengthening that trajectory, becoming an important pillar of China-EU coordination and cooperation.

The professor said the scope for bilateral cooperation is broad — covering areas such as new energy, agriculture and wine — and that both sides provide mutual support and closely align their positions on regional and international issues.

If Sanchez's visit goes head, it will also add to a string of trips to China by several Western leaders in the year of 2026, including Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, as well as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, all in just January this year. 

The entire world has seen that amid global turbulence, China represents an oasis of peace, prosperity, and stability, and moreover, an oasis brimming with new hope, Li noted, stressing that China serves as the anchor for peace, stability, prosperity, confidence, and steadiness.

The continuity and coherence of Spain's policy toward China constitute a striking example of the steadily strengthening leadership role that China is playing in contemporary international matters, Li noted.