Ma Biao, Vice-chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, has visited Portugal with a view to increasing exchanges between the Chinese and Portuguese legislatures and between ordinary Chinese and Portuguese, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency says Mr Ma stayed four days in Portugal last week.

The report says Mr Ma met the presiding officer of the Portuguese legislature, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, and his deputy, Teresa Caeiro, and met representatives of the Portuguese parliament’s China-Portugal friendship group.

Mr Ma also gave a keynote speech at a seminar entitled Promoting People-to-People Ties and Co-building the Belt and Road, which was arranged jointly by the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, which Mr Ma heads, and the Chinese Embassy in Lisbon, Xinhua says.