From May 7 to 9, 2023 local time, Vice President Han Zheng paid an official visit to Portugal at the invitation of the Portuguese government, and met with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prime Minister António Costa respectively in Lisbon.

During the meeting with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Han Zheng conveyed the cordial greetings and best wishes from President Xi Jinping, and said that under the steering of the two heads of state, China-Portugal relations have always maintained sound and steady development. Since the beginning of this year, China's economy and society have returned to normal across the board and its economic growth has picked up, creating enabling conditions for providing greater cooperation opportunities for Portugal and other countries. China is committed to developing friendship and cooperation with other countries, promoting the building of a new type of international relations, and expanding convergence of interests with other countries. China and Portugal, and China and the EU, should focus on win-win cooperation as the mainstay of their relations. China is ready to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation with Portugal and the EU to serve their respective economic development and make positive contributions to the steady recovery of the world economy.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa asked Han Zheng to convey his cordial greetings and best wishes to President Xi Jinping, and said that the Portugal-China friendship has grown stronger as time goes by. Portugal has always been committed to building a Portugal-China relationship featuring friendship, mutual trust and positive cooperation, and refuses to view Portugal-China relations and EU-China relations from a simple perspective. Portugal is ready to further strengthen high-level exchanges with China, deepen important cooperation in trade, science and technology, culture and other fields, and continue to actively promote constructive cooperation between the EU and China.

During the meeting with António Costa, Han Zheng pointed out that China attaches great importance to its traditional friendship with Portugal and has always promoted and developed the China-Portugal comprehensive strategic partnership from a strategic and overall perspective. Portugal is an excellent gateway for Chinese companies to enter the European market. The close cooperation between enterprises of the two countries has achieved important results, which reflects the high level of mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides. China encourages Chinese companies to invest in Portugal and welcomes companies from all over the world, including Portugal, to invest and develop in China. China looks forward to having extensive exchanges with the Portuguese government and people of all sectors in the country, advancing the resumption of face-to-face interactions across the board, facilitating the early restart of the inter-departmental exchange and dialogue mechanism, and delivering more outcomes in bilateral practical cooperation in various fields including trade and investment.

António Costa warmly welcomed Vice President Han Zheng's visit, saying that Portugal-China relations enjoy a time-honored history. The two sides have successfully realized the smooth transfer of power in Macao, and firmly fulfilled their political commitments, setting a good example for the international community. Portugal stays committed to the one-China policy, and supports the practice of "One Country, Two Systems" in Macao. Portugal and China have built a sound partnership through the platform of Macao. António Costa expressed the hope that the two sides will work together to give more vitality to the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), promote more practical cooperation, better facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation between Portugal and China, and expand trilateral cooperation with African countries.

The two sides also had exchanges of views on the Ukraine crisis, among others. Han Zheng reiterated China's position of promoting talks for peace, saying that China will continue to work with the international community to play a constructive role in promoting a political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

On May 8 local time, Han Zheng visited the Research and Development Center, a joint venture between the State Grid Corporation of China and the Redes Energeticas Nacionais SGPS SA, where he visited the laboratory and dispatching room, and held an informal discussion. Han Zheng encouraged Chinese and Portuguese enterprises to further step up cooperation in making technological breakthroughs, standard promotion and institutional innovation in smart grid and other fields.

During his visit to Portugal, Han Zheng also met with Chairman and CEO of the Mota-Engil Group Carlos Mota dos Santos.