Sánchez’s office did not provide details for the visit, which will run between September 7th and 12th, but he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and other officials during his trip.

The Spanish premier met with Xi during his last visit to China in March 2023, and took part in the Boao Forum for Asia — similar to the World Economic Forum held in Davos — in China’s Hainan province.

That visit came as Xi was trying to galvanise support for China’s peace proposal for Ukraine, and Spain — the eurozone’s fourth largest economy — was preparing to hold the rotating presidency of the European Union during the second half of 2023.

Sánchez’s upcoming visit to China comes after the European Commission, which oversees the bloc’s trade policy, announced last week that it planned to impose five-year import duties of up to 36 percent on electric vehicles imported from China.

The duties are to counter what it says are unfair subsidies.

Beijing responded by launching a probe into EU subsidies of some dairy products imported into China.

That investigation will cover a range of items including fresh cheese and curd, some milk and cream.