Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) President Marcus Im Sio Kei is eager for more joint endeavours by his institute and Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in the teaching of the Chinese and Portuguese languages, MPI says.

Mr Im said so in a meeting with representatives of the southern Chinese university and Macao Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, according to a written statement the MPI issued last Wednesday.

The statement quotes Mr Im as saying joint endeavours already undertaken have drawn students from the Portuguese-speaking world to visit the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area on academic exchanges and to study in the area.

Mr Im said greater cooperation could attract qualified academics and students from all over the world to the area, helping Hong Kong and the adjoining mainland Chinese province of Guangdong to benefit from the capability for teaching Portuguese to be found in Macao.

The Greater Bay Area Portuguese Language Education Alliance and the Chinese-Portuguese-English Machine Translation Laboratory are among the joint endeavours already undertaken, the MPI statement quotes Guangdong University of Foreign Studies Rector Shi Youqi as saying.