China is confident that Europe, the country's largest trading partner, can deal with its debt crisis, Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao said on Monday.

Zhu also told reporters at a news briefing that China appreciated efforts taken so far by the 27-nation block to ease the crisis.

Separately, China's vice commerce minister Zhong Shan said that China "cannot be optimistic" about the outlook for trade with the EU in the second half of this year.

The officials made the comments ahead of a planned visit by Premier Wen Jiabao to Europe later this month. (Reporting by Kevin Yao; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore)