Vice Minister of Commerce Yu Guangzhou said in Beining on Tuesday that trade between China and Portugal surged to 1.7 billion U.S. dollars last year, up 39 percent year-on-year from a year earlier.

Yu said at the sixth meeting of the Sino-Portuguese Economic and Trade Mixed Commission in Beijing that China is keen to achieve healthier, more balanced bilateral trade.

"China will encourage domestic enterprises to expand investment in Portugal especially in logistics, information technology, automobile and electronics," Yu said.

Fernando Pereira Serrasqueira, secretary of state of the Trade, Service and Consumer Protection Department affiliated to the Ministry of Economy and Innovation, said that Portugal hoped to exploit economic complementarity to further expand its trade with China.

He said that Portugal welcomed investment by Chinese enterprises and would support collaborations between Chinese and Portuguese companies in energy, building materials, medicines, machinery, information technology and telecommunication.

The two sides agreed that trade cooperation was crucial to the development of a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Sustained development in China and steady economic growth in Portugal will provide more opportunities for companies from both countries, they said.

The two sides also agreed to make concerted efforts to revive the stalled Doha round of multilateral trade liberalization talks.

The meeting opened on the day Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates began a five-day visit to China that aims to boost trade and investment between the European nation and fast-growing Asian countries.

Socrates will hold meetings with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and top legislator Wu Bangguo on Wednesday before visiting Shanghai and Macao.

Source:Xinhua