A large business delegation from China has headed to Europe.  The group, headed by Mr. Gao Hucheng, Deputy Minister of Commerce, consists of 300 government officials and business leaders, according to a post from the Ministry of Commerce website. 

This is the forth delegation from China since Premier Wen Jiabao's visist to Europe in the spring and President Hu Jintao's recent trip to Italy and Portugal.  The team will visit Italy, Sweden, Finland, and Portugal.  They will discuss business opportunities in the area of trade, direct investment, and technological exchange.  The purpose is to expand areas of cooperation, improve business relationship, create more mutually beneficial opportunities, maintain an open business environment, and fend off protectionism.

Europe ranks number one as China's export market and technology import source, and ranks number four as China's foreign direct investment.  China ranks number two as Europe's export market.  From January to May this year, total China-Europe trade value reached 129.26 billion USD, accounted for 16.9% of China's total trade, and higher than the 16.6% for the same period of last year.  Given the existing business interdependency and the threat of the international financial crisis, better understanding and trust between the two sides are critical to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship and speed up economic recovery.