China willing to work with Portugal to lift partnership

China is keen to work with Portugal to upgrade their bilateral strategic partnership, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said here Wednesday.

"China is willing to work with Portugal to strengthen bilateral economic and trade cooperation, expand two-way trade and investments, and deepen cultural, education and tourism cooperation, so as to raise the China-Portugal comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level," said Liu Yunshan, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, at a meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho.

Coelho said Portugal, a member of the European Union(EU) as well as an influential country among the Portuguese-speaking nations, can help Chinese companies enter the EU market and serve as a bridge for the cooperation between China and Latin America.

"There are broad prospects for Portugal-China cooperation," he said, noting that China's development is an important contribution to the world.

Liu is on an official visit to Portugal, the last leg of his four-nation Europe tour, which has taken him to Denmark, Finland and Ireland.