The Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC), has “great appetite” to invest in Portugal, said the Portuguese Secretary of State for Economy, Leonardo Mathias.

Mr Mathias met with Xie Ping, CIC’s Executive Vice-President, in Beijing on Thursday. The Portuguese official is currently in China with a Portuguese delegation for an eight-day visit aiming to strengthen bilateral co-operation. The programme includes visits to Macao and Hong Kong.

“A significant amount of the capital [that CIC has] is to invest in European markets and also [specifically] in Portugal,” Mr Mathias told Portuguese news agency Lusa after the meeting.

The CIC investments in Portugal should focus on real estate, infrastructure, and transport, said Mr Mathias, adding that currently the fund has no intention of buying Portuguese Government bonds.

The Secretary of State said CIC would prefer to invest in Portugal in a partnership.

“What takes more time is finding the right partner. After that, the capacity of investment [that CIC has] is very interesting,” he added.