Macao needs more workers proficient in Portuguese so the city can play a greater part in the world and burnish its international image, the Macao Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture has said.

The secretariat issued a written statement saying this need was mentioned in a recent series of meetings in Beijing attended by Macao government officials led by Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Ao Ieong U, and central government officials representing the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, and the General Administration of Sport.

The Macao officials visited the Peking University Health Science Center and the Peking Union Medical College Hospital while in Beijing, the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture says.