Li sees new opportunities with Portugal

Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday that China would like to strengthen cooperation with Portugal in fields such as ocean development, new energy, agriculture and fisheries.

The two countries are seeing new opportunities as Portugal steps out of its debt crisis and prepares to return to the international finance market, Li told visiting Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva.

China wants to expand trade and investment with Portugal, Li said, deepening cooperation and encouraging enterprises from both countries to jointly explore third markets.

Cavaco Silva hailed China's development as beneficial to both Europe and the world. Portugal is willing to develop other markets with China and boost the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, he said.

The forum was launched in 2003 to establish economic cooperation and development. Its members are largely from Portuguese-speaking countries, including Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau, Timor-Leste, Mozambique, Portugal and China.

China has become the largest trading partner and largest exporter to the Portuguese-speaking countries. Trade within the forum reached $128.8 billion in 2012, with the figure expected to reach $160 billion by 2016.

Friday's meeting followed Cavaco Silva's talks with President Xi Jinping on Thursday. After their talks in the Great Hall of the People, the two presidents witnessed the signing of a series of deals in areas such as education, ocean technology and finance.

Cavaco Silva started his weeklong state visit to China on Monday. Before his arrival in Beijing, he visited Shanghai, eastern China's economic hub. The trip will also take him to Macao, which was returned to China in 1999 after more than four centuries of Portuguese rule.