Rebelo de Sousa told journalists as he was leaving a conference at the Champalimaud Foundation in Lisbon, that relations in economic and financial cooperation between China and Portugal had been "useful" for the country and "important."

He added that China was a "friend and partner for the future."

The governments of Portugal and China on Wednesday issued a joint statement backing the action of the secretary-general of the United Nations, António Guterres, rejecting economic protectionism and unilateralism, and called for human rights to be upheld.

The Chinese President began his two-day official visit to Portugal on Tuesday.

In the last ten years, while developed economies have stalled, China has maintained high rates of economic growth, increasing its share in global gross domestic product to almost 16% from 6%.

Over the same period it has become one of the leading investors in Portugal, with its state firms buying stakes in large energy, insurance, healthcare and banking companies, while hundreds of Chinese nationals have bought homes in Portugal under the ‘golden visa’ scheme of fast-track residence permits for major investors.