The University of Lisbon has held a two-day seminar about co-operation by the People’s Republic of China and Portugal since they established diplomatic relations 40 years ago, Xinhua reports.

The Chinese government-run news agency says the event also marked 20 years since China established the Macao SAR.

The report says over 200 people attended.

It quotes a Portuguese official, José de Freitas Ferraz, as telling the seminar that China and Portugal could co-operate more in scientific research, innovation, renewable energy, artificial intelligence and oceanography.

Last year the annual value of Sino-Portuguese trade grew by 7.27 percent to €5.24 billion (about US$5.85 billion), and the cumulative value of Chinese investment in the energy, finance and healthcare industries in Portugal exceeded €9 billion, the report says.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Lisbon, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of European Studies, and arms the Portuguese and Chinese governments jointly arranged the seminar, Xinhua reports.