China's Xi invites Spanish PM on state visit next week

Chinese President Xi Jinping has invited Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to Beijing for a state visit as Xi tries to galvanise support for China's peace proposal for Ukraine.

Spain's minister for the presidency, Félix Bolaños, confirmed late on Wednesday that Sánchez would visit China on March 30-31, citing Xi's “possible mediation in the war in Ukraine” as a key reason for the visit.

Spain takes over the European Union's rotating presidency in July, and Sánchez has portrayed his nation on the world stage as a staunch NATO ally of Ukraine.

He plans to hold commercially focused meetings during the Boao Forum for Asia on the Chinese island of Hainan on March 30 before travelling to Beijing to meet with Xi on March 31, Sánchez's office said.

Xi met in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin this week to promote Beijing's peace plan for Ukraine, which Western nations have all but dismissed as unviable.

Putin said it could be a basis for ending the fighting when the West is ready but added that Ukraine's Western allies have not shown interest.

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