China has signed deals worth some 8-billion euros with Italy as part of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's time in Rome.

Among them, the China Investment Corporation has inked an agreement with an Italian investment fund to co-invest up to 500 million euros each in companies promoting bilateral economic cooperation.

Chinese industrial group BAIC has signed a 400 million euro deal to buy 50 helicopters from Italian defense giant Finmeccanica.

Li Keqiang says the deals are a signal of the growing economic ties between the two countries.

"This is a display of success. The scope of our trade and investment will expand even more in future."

As part of his time in Rome, the Chinese Premier has also met with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

As part of that meeting, Li Keqiang says he hopes the two countries can work together in exploring third-party markets.

For his part, Napolitano says Italy is hoping to strengthen both trade and cultural cooperation with China.

Li Keqiang is currently on a week-long visit to Europe that has already taken him to Germany and Russia.

Italy is his last stop.

The Chinese Premier is due to attend a summit of Asian and European leaders in Milan before returning to China.