Ambassador says China wants more partnerships and cooperation with Portugal
The Chinese ambassador to Portugal said this Tuesday that China intends to develop “excellent” cooperation relations and partnerships with Portugal, which have registered a “good development trend”, with “great intensity and promising results” .
Zhao Bentang was speaking at the opening of the 3rd International Conference on Portugal-China Cooperation, which runs until Wednesday in person and virtually from the headquarters of the Union of Portuguese Language Capital Cities (UCCLA), in Lisbon, and separate topics concern to economic, social, scientific and technological cooperation.
In the initiative promoted by the Union of Associations for Cooperation and Friendship Portugal-China and the China Observatory, which will be attended by the Portuguese Minister of the Sea, Ricardo Serrão Santos, and the Secretary of State for Internationalization, Eurico Brilhante Dias, ambassador from China in Lisbon emphasized the fact that Portugal is “an endogenous partner” of Beijing.
“Having as an important point the strengthening of the Silk Routes, whether land or sea, Portugal is an endogenous partner in this construction. Many years ago, the brave Portuguese sailed along the maritime Silk Route to the East, opening the door to the Maritime trade. In recent years, Portugal has been actively participating in the construction of this new economic phase, giving continuity to this wonderful chapter of the conversion of relations”, emphasizes Bentang.
The Chinese diplomat highlighted that Portugal was one of the 57 founding countries of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (BAII) and of the first European states to sign cooperation documents in infrastructure construction with China, which has allowed to bring multilateral benefits and third countries.
“China is Portugal’s biggest trading partner in Asia, as well as the biggest destination for Portuguese pork exports. In the first nine months of this year, trade volume increased and reached US$6387 million [5660 milhões de euros], a value higher than that of the whole year of 2019. China’s direct investment in Portugal this year increased by 47.76%”, he exemplified.
“In recent years, Sino-Portuguese relations have shown a good development trend and, through a high-level dialogue, cooperation has been very intense, with promising results and close cooperation at the multilateral level,” he added, emphasizing the creation, in less than six months, of a new strategic partnership.
Bentang also highlighted that, last August 27, the President of China, Xi Jinping, had “another telephone conversation” with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, having agreed a “stable and sustainable reinforcement of bilateral cooperation”.
“In the last eight years since the launch of the New Route initiative [da Seda], the growth of cooperation in Portugal has brought many economic and bilateral benefits, as well as results in third markets”, he highlighted.
In this regard, Bentang indicated that both Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the Portuguese prime minister, António Costa, expressed on several occasions their willingness to correct cooperation with China in the scope of the Silk Road and to “create greater synergies and objectives in the strategies of development “.
“The Chinese side attaches great importance to the outstanding role that Portugal plays in the construction and development of the Route [da Seda] and is willing to work together with the Portuguese side to promote bilateral programmatic cooperation in all areas, to reach new levels”, he said.
In the area of oceans, Bentang highlighted the existing cooperation through protocols for the defense and promotion of the sea, preservation of biodiversity, combating maritime pollution or even maritime expeditions signed between Chinese and Portuguese universities and institutions for the development of the “blue economy” .
“The sea promotes development and China and Portugal are actively developing a blue partnership with the desire that the oceans come as a beneficiary of the generation of the future,” concluded Bentang.
A conference will feature three roundtables on topics such as “A New Era of Environmental Crisis and Energy Transition”, “The Future of Europe in Light of the Civilization and Environmental Crisis and the Chinese Concept of a New Era” and “Political Cooperation, Economic, Financial, Cultural, Scientific and Technological”.