China will set up “procurement missions” to buy goods and technologies in Europe in an effort to stem protectionist sentiment in the region against its exports.

Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier who was talking in London yesterday at the end of a five-day trip to Europe, said the procurement trips would be established as soon as possible.

“Confidence is the most important thing, more important than gold or currency,” Mr Wen said at a meeting with Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, and business leaders. China would seek to purchase commodities and technologies needed by its companies in an attempt to “help us restore and shore up confidence in the market”.

He said Chinese companies had signed contracts totalling $15bn (？11.7bn, £10.6bn) during his trip to Europe.

The announcement underlines Beijing's anxiety that the global financial crisis will prompt a new wave of protectionism which would be damaging to a country such as China which is the second largest exporter in the world. Europe is China's largest trading partner.

China hopes initiatives of this kind will help shift attention away from questions about the level of its currency, which some governments believe to be undervalued.

China has often tried to use high-profile purchases of overseas goods as a diplomatic tactic to overcome political opposition, especially in its dealings with the US.

Mr Wen reiterated yesterday that China's main contribution to assisting the recovery from the crisis would be to maintain strong growth at home.

“For China, the fundamentals of its economy are sound and the long-term trend remains unchanged,” he said. However, in a speech at Cambridge University yesterday, he said the global financial crisis had “not yet hit the bottom”.

A senior official travelling with Mr Wen said all the projects that would be part of the Rmb4000bn fiscal stimulus plan announced in the autumn had been approved by the central government.