Lusa will hold two international conferences, one on April 16 in Lisbon, and the other in November in Macao, to mark an important year in the history of the relationships among Portugal, Macao and Mainland China, the Portuguese news agency reports.

The news agency quotes Lusa Chairman Nicolau Santos as saying the speakers at the conferences will talk about modern China from the political and economic point of view.

Mr Santos said this year was important because it is the 40th since Portugal and the People’s Republic of China established diplomatic relations, the 70th since the People’s Republic of China was founded and the 20th since China resumed exercising sovereignty over Macao.

The report says Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva, Chinese Ambassador to Portugal Cai Run and University of Lisbon Rector António Cruz Serra will be among the politicians, officials, businesspeople and academics attending the Lisbon conference.

Mr Santos said the second conference would be held in Macao because his is the only foreign news agency with a bureau there, and because of the function of the city as a place where China and the Portuguese-speaking world, particularly the African parts of it, can do business, Lusa says.