China, Europe have common interests, says vice-premier

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang meets Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Minister Paulo Portas in Beijing on Wednesday. Feng Yongbin / China Daily

China will continue to support the European Union in resolving its debt crisis in a constructive and cooperative way, Vice-Premier Li Keqiang told visiting Portuguese Minister of State and Foreign Minister Paulo Portas on Wednesday.

Li said China and Europe have broad common interests and said the consensus on the eurozone crisis reached at the EU summit sent a positive message to the world.

"I believe this will promote economic recovery and development in Europe," Li said.

China will continue to support EU countries' efforts in resolving the debt crisis in a constructive and cooperative way, Li said, adding that China is ready to expand pragmatic cooperation with the EU in all areas to achieve win-win results.

In another development, Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were scheduled to meet in Rome late on Wednesday to discuss the eurozone crisis after the landmark summit in Brussels last week, AFP reported.

The outcome of the summit was hailed by EU leaders as a breakthrough, and despite skepticism on financial markets about the incomplete details, trading has been steady.

In Europe, stock markets were down.

The euro slid to $1.25 from $1.26 late on Tuesday.

Portas' official visit to China from June 30 to Sunday is the first by a member of Lisbon's one-year-old administration.

The visit comes at a time of growing bilateral business relations, increasing Portuguese exports and Chinese participation in Lisbon's privatization program, according to Portugal's Lusa News Agency.

Li said China is ready to increase cooperation with Portugal in areas including trade, new energy, infrastructure construction and telecommunications, and promote the integration of high-tech production and markets.

Portas said Portugal attaches great importance to Sino-Portuguese relations. He said his country is ready to enhance friendly exchanges and pragmatic cooperation with China to realize common development.

Statistics show that China-Portugal trade reached $2.62 billion in 2011, a year-on-year increase of 9.7 percent.

chengguangjin@chinadaily.com.cn