Chinese commerce minister meets with Portuguese economy minister

LISBON, June 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao and Portuguese Economy Minister Pedro Reis held talks on Tuesday to discuss measures for advancing bilateral economic and trade relations.

Wang expressed China's willingness to collaborate with Portugal to implement the outcomes of the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, also known as Forum Macao, held in Macao earlier this year.

Regarding the issue of fair competition, he criticized recent trade protection measures taken by the EU, which he said have severely disrupted mutually beneficial industrial cooperation and affected the confidence of Chinese enterprises investing in Europe.

Wang noted that protectionism is not a viable solution but a dangerous dead end.

He called for equal discussions with the EU about economic and trade concerns and advocated for fair competition based on expanded cooperation to improve Sino-European economic and trade relations.

Reis echoed Wang's opinions, saying that expanding cooperation and fair competition are the right paths to counter trade protectionism.

He emphasized the need for strengthened cooperation between Chinese and Portuguese enterprises to contribute more positive energy to global economic development.

Reis also expressed Portugal's willingness to enhance cooperation with China in areas such as mutual investment, agricultural and food product trade, people-to-people exchanges, and third-party market collaboration, while enhancing the role of the Forum Macao.