European officials' visits set to bolster trust

Portuguese, French foreign ministers' trips highlight shared aspirations

The successive visits of foreign ministers from two European countries to China within a week are expected to further bolster the China-European Union partnership and highlight their shared aspiration to uphold openness and cooperation, strengthen trust and solidarity, and safeguard multilateralism, analysts said.

On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Wang Yi, together with Portugal's Minister of State and Foreign Affairs Paulo Rangel, co-chaired a strategic dialogue in Beijing.

Rangel's five-day visit, which began on Monday, is the first by a high-level Portuguese government official in more than five years.