The Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry has given the Portuguese Ambassador to China, Jorge Torres Pereira, its award for the best economic diplomat of the year, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency quotes Mr Pereira as saying Sino-Portuguese relations have made “a significant qualitative leap” since the end of 2011, mainly in the fields of tourism and investment.

“There is greater knowledge of what the Chinese market means for the Portuguese, and of the importance of the Portuguese market to the Chinese,” Mr Pereira says.

The chamber of commerce and industry presented the ambassador with the award in Lisbon this week, Lusa says.

Mr Pereira has been the Portuguese ambassador to the Mainland since 2013.