BRUSSELS - Dacian Ciolos, the European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, will visit China from Sunday to promote European food and drinks.

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The commissioner will lead a delegation of 30 top executives from world famous food and drink companies in Europe and present European products with Geographical Indications.

"Our aim from this trip is to inspire an interest in quality products from Europe among Chinese consumers," Ciolos said before leaving for his five-day visit.

Ciolos said that Europe has more than 3,200 registered food, wine and spirits products that have been granted special status as Geographical Indications, but they are only known to connoisseurs.

"I hope that our visit will help to change this," the commissioner said.

During his stay in China, the commissioner will meet leading Chinese officials, including Vice Premier Hui Liangyu and Agriculture Minister Han Changfu, discussing cooperation in recognizing each other's products with GIs and boosting trade between the two sides.