Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) announced on Tuesday its manuals for learning Portuguese are now available on its website free of charge, Lusa reports.

The Portuguese news agency quotes MPI as saying in a written announcement that the manuals are for native speakers of Chinese, such as those found in Macao, that wish to learn Portuguese.

The report says the manuals are the outcome of 10 years of cooperation by MPI and Portugal’s Lisbon University.

In a separate written statement MPI says that graduates of important universities in Mainland China and the Portuguese-speaking world have applied to study at MPI for postgraduate degrees.

On Monday Lusa quoted Macao Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao as saying MPI and the European Commission have jointly set up a centre for teaching Portuguese to people being trained for work in the tourism industry.