The Macao subsidiary of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has announced the opening in the city of the ICBC Sino-Luso Research Centre, the China Finance Net website reports.

The Chinese state-run website says the bank announced the opening of the centre at a conference on Tuesday.

The report says the centre is the first institution in Chinese banking to concentrate on studies to do with the Portuguese-speaking world, and the first research centre set up by ICBC outside mainland China.

At the annual conference of the China Modern Financial Society, which was founded by ICBC, people working in banking discussed how the industry can manage financial and economic development once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, the China Finance Net website says.

Last November the ICBC subsidiary in Macao said the centre would help Macao facilitate economic engagement by China and lusophone countries.