BEIJING, May 18 -- Chinese Vice President Li Yuanchao met here Monday afternoon with a delegation from the Socialist Party (PS) of Portugal.

The delegation is headed by PS President Carlos Cesar.

Li said since China and Portugal established the all-round strategic partnership ten years ago, bilateral relations have seen rapid development. He expressed the wish that the two sides will maintain the momentum in high-level contact and tap into the potential of cooperation in the areas of sea, environment protection and new energy. He hoped that the two sides would join effort to play an active role in promoting a long-term and stable growth of China-EU relations.

Li said the Communist Party of China is willing to enhance friendly exchanges with the PS so as to advance growth of relations between the two countries.

Cesar said the PS places importance on expanding its relations with China. He expressed the belief that China's growth is in the interests of Portugal. He expressed the readiness to further advance friendly cooperation between the two countries and between EU and China.