A senior official of the Chinese Communist Party, Guo Shengkun, has said China and Portugal should cooperate more in enforcing the law and other aspects of security, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes Mr Guo as saying so when he met Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva in Lisbon.

Mr Guo called for permanent arrangements for Sino-Portuguese cooperation on security, to match the growth in bilateral trade and in the numbers of Chinese visiting Portugal and Portuguese visiting China.

He said China was ready for more Sino-Portuguese economic engagement, and for more cooperation in education, science, technology and in the development of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative.

Portugal is amenable to more Sino-Portuguese economic engagement, to more cooperation in security, to greater coordination of their respective foreign policies, and to developing Sino-European and Sino-Portuguese relations, Xinhua quotes Mr Santos Silva as saying.