Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, companied by Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, attends a welcome ceremony in Lisbon, capital city of Portugal, yesterday. Wen is in Portugal for a two-day official visit. (Xinhua Photo)

China and Portugal decided on Friday to set up an all-around strategic partnership so as to push their bilateral relations forward in a comprehensive and profound way.

The decision was made in talks held between Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his Portuguese counterpart, Jose Socrates.

During the talks, Wen said China and Portugal have seen their relations develop smoothly since they established diplomatic ties in 1979.

The successful resolution of the Macao issue demonstrated a spirit of mutual trust through consultation and cooperation between the two nations, he said.

The Sino-Portuguese relationship is currently in its best period since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, he said, citing the continuous exchange of high-level visits, rapid development of trade and economic links, the continued expansion of exchanges in a variety of fields such as culture, education, and science and technology. China and Portugal have also maintained fine coordination at the United Nations and in other international organizations, Wen said.

The premier pointed out that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of relations with Portugal, and the establishment of the all-around strategic partnership is of strategic significance for both countries in the future.

For the next steps, Wen said, the two sides should focus on several key aspects to push forward the development of the bilateral relations in a sustained, steady and healthy way.

The aspects include an increase of exchanges between the governments, parliaments, political parties and social groups of the two countries so as to strengthen bilateral relations and coordination in major international and regional issues, thus jointly contributing to the maintenance of world peace, poverty reduction and common development.

Wen hoped that the two sides make concerted efforts to double their trade volume within the next three years.

The two countries should also promote cultural exchanges and deepen cooperation in language teaching in a bid to push forward cooperation in tourism, culture and other fields, he added.

For his part, Socrates said the Portuguese government attaches great importance to developing ties with China, which is a priority in Portugal's foreign relations.

He stressed that the announcement by the two countries to establish the all-around strategic partnership is of historic significance and has opened a broad prospect for the development of the bilateral relations.

Portugal is willing to make joint efforts together with China to continuously enrich the contents of the bilateral ties by strengthening cooperation in investment, trade, education, culture, tourism and other fields, Socrates said.

The prime minister reiterated that the Portuguese government firmly sticks to the one-China policy.

The two leaders also had an in-depth exchange of views on the Sino-European relations as well as other international and regional issues.

After the talks, the two sides signed 10 documents on bilateral cooperation, including the Joint Statement on Strengthening Bilateral Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Portugal.

The other nine documents -- all concrete measures meant to consolidate and strengthen the all-around strategic partnership between the two countries -- cover a variety of fields, such as judiciary assistance and investment protection.

After the signing ceremony, Wen and Socrates jointly held a press conference.

At the press conference, Wen stressed that the major achievement of his visit to Portugal was the signing of the Joint Statement on Strengthening Bilateral Relations Between the People's Republic of China and the Republic of Portugal.

Proposing that the two countries increase exchanges of high-level visits, Wen invited Socrates to visit China at his convenience next year.

Portugal is the fourth leg of Wen's five-nation Euro-Asian tour, which has taken him to France, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and will take him to Malaysia.