Chinese Ambassador to Timor-Leste Xiao Jianguo has disclosed that the Chinese and Timorese authorities are preparing a twinning arrangement for the cities of Macao and Dili, the People’s Daily reports.

The Chinese Communist Party newspaper quotes Mr Xiao as saying in a opinion article published today that the prospects for Sino-Timorese trade are bright.

Mr Xiao said ordinary Chinese and Timorese have increased their dealings with each other, including cultural exchanges.

Mr Xiao said that in the past 15 years China had mounted eight medical missions to Timor-Leste, which had attended to nearly 300,000 Timorese.

Chinese money has paid for more than 160 Timorese university students and thousands of technicians and government officials to receive education or training in China, the People’s Daily quotes the ambassador as saying.