The Secretary-General of Forum Macau, Xu Yingzhen, said in Lisbon that the Forum’s years of cooperation and exchange experience can be used to boost cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Xu recalled that China has a sophisticated industrial system that could be the basis for a cooperation model and that Portuguese-speaking countries have excellent regional locations and the Macau platform offers its own unique advantages.

The Secretary-General, speaking at the Forum of Business Opportunities between Portugal, China and the Macau Special Administrative Region, said the Permanent Secretariat will launch a series of initiatives to promote cooperation of productive capacity, particularly by gathering detailed information to promote project partnerships between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

The initiatives Xu mentioned include promotion of trilateral or multilateral cooperation projects from Macau and exchange and training of qualified staff.

The Macau Forum will continue to raise awareness and highlight the role and advantages of Macau as a platform to strengthen cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

During the visit to Portugal, the secretary-general said that “close cooperation” between China and Portugal has achieved remarkable results in the economic, commercial and investment areas.

Trade between China and Portugal totalled US$5.62 billion last year, an increase of 28.5% compared to 2015.

China has increased its investments in Portugal, to a total of US$8 billion. (macauhub)