A conference about the function of Macao as a place where China and the Portuguese-speaking world can do business has opened in the city, the Macao Polytechnic Institute says.

The institute issued a written statement saying over 70 academics and other authorities in their respective fields from 18 different parts of the world are attending, including luminaries belonging to the University of Oxford in Britain, the University of Lisbon and the University of Coimbra in Portugal, and the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil.

The statement quotes Portuguese Consul-General in Macau and Hong Kong Paulo Cunha Alves as saying when the three-day conference opened yesterday that Macao is a place for cultural engagement between the East and West as well as economic engagement, and that the importance of the Portuguese language as a medium for political, economic and cultural discourse is growing.

The Macao Polytechnic Institute Centre for Portuguese Studies and the Portuguese Oriental Institute arranged the conference, the Macao Polytechnic Institute says.