A Chinese delegation to promote trade cooperation left Beijing for Europe Saturday.

The delegation, consisting of about 300 entrepreneurs, was headed by Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng, said a statement on the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) website.

They planned to visit Italy, Sweden, Finland and Portugal and hold trade forums there to help sign more business contracts or tentative cooperation deals, the statement said.

This is the fourth time for China to organize enterprises to go to Europe for trade promotion since the beginning of 2009, the statement said.

The European Union (EU) is a key business partner for China. China's trade with the EU topped 129.26 billion U.S. dollars in the first five months of 2009, about 16.9 percent of China's total foreign trade -- slightly up from 16.6 percent in 2008, the statement said.

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2009)