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.

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

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.

Li said that China is ready to expand pragmatic cooperation with the EU in all areas to achieve win-win results.

"The Chinese side has noted the important consensus reached among EU members to address the debt crisis during the EU summer summit," Li said, noting that the agreement has displayed the EU's confidence to the world and will be conducive to the recovery and growth of the European economy.

Li also voiced his hope that Portugal will continue to play an active role in the EU and work to promote the development of China-EU relations.

After a score of disappointing summits since the beginning of the debt crisis, European leaders made bold moves on Friday to calm financial markets and boost the embattled economy.

At the two-day summit ending on Friday afternoon in Brussels, they decided on a package of measures worth some 120 billion euros (about 150 billion U.S. dollars) to bolster growth. 

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.

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