Full coverage: Li Meets Leaders of Portuguese-speaking Countries in Macao

The fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries has been held in the Macao Special Administrative Region.

The fifth Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries is held in Macao, south China, Oct. 11, 2016. (Xinhua/Lui Siu Wai)

On Tuesday, the parties signed an action plan for economic cooperation and a memorandum of understanding on promoting production capacity cooperation.

Macao is witnessing a new start of cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Cooperation direction and priorities in the next three years have been outlined.

Wider cooperation areas are expected for the sides, which cover about one fifth of the world's population and global economic output.

"The 18 new initiatives announced by Premier Li come down to five fields of cooperation: production capacity cooperation, development cooperation, cultural cooperation, marine cooperation and cooperation on the platform of Macao," said Gao Hucheng, Chinese Minister of Commerce.

"It could be said that these initiatives have reached an unprecedented wide scope in the history of the conference."

China has become the fastest-growing export partner to Portuguese-speaking countries. Last year, China's trade volume with these countries reached 100 billion US dollars.

And China is offering a big package in assistance of development. It includes about 600 million US dollars worth of aid and preferential loans, 200 medical staff, 2,000 training opportunities, and 2,500 government scholarships.

Macao serves as a link between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Gao said, "The goal is to promote Macao's development of a comprehensive platform for cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries."

"This will be done by taking a series of measures, including setting up a joint association of entrepreneurs from China and Portuguese-speaking countries, a training base for bilingual talents, and a youth innovation exchange center."

Minister Gao promised the Marco S-A-R would gain further support in conducting cooperation in fields including trade, investment, culture an education.