Brazil could attract more Chinese investment by simplifying procedures for opening new businesses in the country, former Brazilian Ambassador to China Clodoaldo Hugueney said in an interview.

The Chinese-funded Centiennial Vocational School in Angola has for the first time recruited female students. The female intake will study hotel management, China’s state-run new agency Xinhua reported. The new school year started last week.

China is receptive to increasing its imports from Portugal and to stepping up investment in the European Union nation, namely in areas such as infrastructure, said Portugal’s Secretary of State for Economy Leonardo Mathias.

China should boost its exports of railway, energy, telecommunications equipment and machinery under the initiative of ‘One Belt, One Road’, China’s State Council said.

East Timor’s economy recovered from stagnation in 2013, when it grew by less than 1 percent, to expand by about 8 percent last year. Strong growth is expected to continue in 2015 and 2016, the Governor of the Central Bank of East Timor (BCTL), Abraão de Vasconselos, said in its annual report published this week.

The Chinese sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp (CIC), has “great appetite” to invest in Portugal, said the Portuguese Secretary of State for Economy, Leonardo Mathias.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will provide a loan of about US$24 million to the Government of Guinea-Bissau after noting improvements in the country’s macroeconomic performance, said the head of the IMF mission to the African country, Felix Fisher.

The value of Chinese exports to East Timor increased by 3 percent year-on-year in 2014, according to the latest report from East Timor’s central bank. China climbed two spots to become East Timor’s third largest provider of imports last year, selling it goods worth US$41 million.

The ties between China, Portugal and other Portuguese-speaking Countries should be strengthened, Portugal’s Secretary of State for Economy Leonardo Mathias said in Beijing. The official is currently in China with a Portuguese delegation for an eight-day visit.

Guinea-Bissau is reviewing major contracts – including some in the mining sector – that were signed by previous governments, Prime Minister Domingos Simões Pereira told news agency Reuters. Mr Simões Pereira said the review was also aimed at diversifying investment in services such as maritime transport and telecoms.

China’s trade flows are expected to maintain a growth of “low- to mid- single-digits” this year despite mounting pressure on the economy, said the Chinese Ministry of Commerce.

China and Mozambique should strengthen co-operation across different fields, said the Chinese Ambassador to the African nation, Li Chunhua.