An official of the Chinese Foreign Ministry has said his country needs more and better speakers of Portuguese and Spanish for the new era of Sino-Latin American relations, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency quotes the official, Zhao Bentang, as saying so at a conference of academics on the teaching of the Portuguese and Spanish languages.

Mr Zhao said language instruction should focus more on Latin America, so teaching the students about Latin America and Sino-Latin American relations.

Language instruction should be reformed to produce Chinese speakers of Portuguese and Spanish that are patriotic and highly talented, and have an international outlook, Xinhua quotes Beijing Foreign Studies University Vice-president Yan Guohua as telling the conference.