MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will visit China next month, his office said on Friday, with Beijing’s anti-dumping probe into EU pork imports as a backdrop.

Sanchez will travel to Beijing and Shanghai on Sept. 7-12 and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping during his trip, according to a Spanish government source. A deputy trade minister will accompany the premier.

China and the European Union have been embroiled in a trade dispute after EU regulators announced provisional duties on Chinese-made electric vehicles.

In retaliation, China opened anti-dumping investigations into brandy, dairy and pork products from the EU.

Spain is Europe’s largest pork exporter. It supplied 22% of China’s imported pork in 2023, worth 1.2 billion euros ($1.29 billion), and stands to lose more than any of the bloc’s members from the probe.

China has been canvassing the EU’s 27 member states to reject the European Commission’s proposal to adopt additional duties of up to 36.3% on Chinese-made electric vehicles when they vote on it in October.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo and Belén Carreño; Editing by Angus MacSwan)