Macao Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng has said Macao can help mainland Chinese makers of good-quality Chinese traditional medicines penetrate markets abroad, including the Portuguese-speaking world, the European Union and places covered by the Chinese Belt and Road initiative.

The Macao SAR Government issued a written statement quoting Mr Ho as telling the first Shanghai-Macao Cooperation Conference in Shanghai on Friday that Macao and Shanghai can increase their efforts to spur the development of the Chinese traditional medicine business.

Mr Ho described the prospects for cooperation by Macao and Shanghai in financial services and in Chinese traditional medicine as good.

Having four Chinese state key laboratories in Macao, among them the lab that deals with Chinese traditional medicine, will help accelerate scientific and technological innovation, the official statement quotes Mr Ho as saying.