Banco Nacional Ultramarino (BNU) plans to open a branch on Hengqin Island in 2016 to promote businesses between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, the bank’s chief executive, Pedro Cardoso, told Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Mr Cardoso said the application to be allowed to open the branch in Hengqin, a Chinese island adjacent to Macao, has already been submitted to the Macao authorities.

“We will soon start it [the process] with the Chinese authorities,” he added.

The goal is to “have a more active role in promoting business between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries,” Mr Cardoso was quoted saying.

“There are Portuguese and Chinese businesspeople in China who seek a bridge to the outside world and to the Portuguese-speaking Countries; where the CGD group has a unique market position,” he noted. Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD), a Portuguese state-owned bank, is the parent company of BNU.

Lusa also reported that officials of CGD would hold a high-level meeting in Macao in June with senior officials of the bank from Portuguese-speaking Countries, Macao and China, trying to outline a strategy to “strengthen the intermediary role” of the bank.