Companies from China and Africa signed on Thursday a total of 39 deals worth an aggregate of approximately US$17 billion, Chinese state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

A delegation from the Brazil-China Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCIBC, in the Portuguese acronym) is currently in China seeking to attract more Chinese investment into the South American nation, Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo reported this week.

China Railway Construction Corp Ltd agreed this week in a board meeting to set up a representative office in Mozambique. The state-owned construction firm gave the news in a filing to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

Portugal’s public deficit shrank by more than 25 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2016 thanks to the country’s economic growth, the Portuguese Ministry of Finance announced this week.

The Government of Guinea-Bissau plans to give a presentation about housing and infrastructure projects during the 4th Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), being held this week in the Chinese capital, Beijing, online news portal Macauhub reported.

The Brazilian Government is mulling the possibility of extending a visa waiver programme to Chinese nationals, said in a statement last week Embratur – Brazilian Tourism Institute, an official agency of the Ministry of Tourism.

Mozambique and East Timor are taking part for the first time in Macao Franchise Expo (MFE), the newspaper Jornal Tribuna de Macau reported this week.

The Portuguese news agency Lusa and the online edition of Chinese-state run newspaper People’s Daily signed on Tuesday a co-operation agreement for the future exchange of news content and the launching of joint projects.

Mozambique’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and Co-operation, Nyeleti Mondlane, will go to the Chinese capital, Beijing, to take part on Friday in a meeting. It is to evaluate the practical implementation so far of plans formed as a result of last year’s Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the Mozambican Government said on Tuesday in a statement.

Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI) signed last week a co-operation agreement with institutions in Mainland China to build a laboratory to develop technology to help handle translation between Chinese, Portuguese and English, local newspaper Macao Daily News reported.

China was the single biggest destination for Angolan exports – most of them in the form of crude oil – in the first quarter of 2016, Portuguese news agency Lusa reported on Monday.

The Chief Executive of Macau, Chui Sai On, will visit Portugal in September, public broadcaster Rádio Macau reported.