Spain | Evolution of trade in goods between Spain and China

In the last two decades China has substantially increased its importance both in the world trade of goods, tripling its weight in world exports and imports, and in the trade of services and capital. This is reflected in substantial changes in China's bilateral economic relations with many countries, including Spain.

Key points

• Key points:
• The most substantial change in the Spanish case is the rise of China to become the main external supplier of goods, supplying 11% of total imports in 2022, including purchases of capital goods and automobiles.
• And although China's share in Spanish exports of goods is much smaller (2.1% in 2022), its weight has been gaining importance, especially in some items such as meat products, ores and minerals and semi-manufactures, which makes the Chinese reopening look favorable to the continuation of this greater relevance in Spanish sales of goods.
• Thus, in 2022, China was already Spain's fourth largest trading partner, overtaking regular European partners such as Portugal and the United Kingdom.
• Nevertheless, China's relative importance in Spain's trade is still lower than that of the Eurozone, which shows a clear potential for increase, amplified by the expected effect of the implementation of the NGEU plan funds.

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