Beijing has praised Macao’s growing influence as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, pledging support for the territory to further improve such role.

“The role of Macao as a service platform for economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries has been growing prominently,” Shen Danyang, spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, said at a press conference this week in Beijing.

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries has increased by an average annual growth rate of 31.8 percent since the establishment of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in Macao in 2003, reaching US$131.9 billion last year, Mr Shen said.

Trade between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries grew “much faster than the average growth seen in global trade over the same period of time,” he added.

“China’s accumulated, non-financial direct investment in Portuguese-speaking Countries has increased from dozens of millions [of U.S. dollars in 2003] to US$2.47 billion at the end of 2013,” the spokesperson said.

The Ministry will support Macao “in establishing an information sharing platform for cooperation and exchange” between enterprises in China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as to train talents fluent in both Chinese and Portuguese languages, Mr Shen added.