On the morning of 4 July 2026, under the slogan “Lusophony on the Silk Road, Qinghai and Macao Shining Together”, the Qinghai-Macao-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Cultural Co-operation Meeting was held in Xining, marking the launch of the activities of the 18th Cultural Week of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries in Xining. Jointly organised by the People’s Government of Qinghai Province and the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, the event was attended by more than 300 people, including officials, entrepreneurs and artists from Qinghai, Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
Mr. Wu Xiaojun, Secretary of the CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee, and Mr. Luo Dongchuan, Governor of Qinghai Province, separately received the principal guests from various parties who travelled to Xining to take part in the activities.
At the Opening Ceremony, Mr. Ho Hau Wah, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), put forward three suggestions in his speech: deepening strategic alignment and broadening the channel for “promoting Qinghai products overseas”; taking the organisation of the Cultural Week in Qinghai as an opportunity to strengthen cultural foundations; and improving long-term mechanisms, so that Macao may continue to play its central role as the Sino-Lusophone Platform, in co-ordination with Qinghai’s role as a new highland of opening-up in western Mainland China, jointly serving the broader goal of the Country’s opening-up to the outside world.
Mr. Wu Xiaojun, Secretary of the CPC Qinghai Provincial Committee, pointed out that the organisation of the Cultural Week of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, which has extended to western China for the first time, is not only a vivid practice of jointly building the Belt and Road Initiative and promoting commercial, economic and cultural exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, but also a major strategic opportunity for Qinghai to expand high-level opening-up. Qinghai will take the activities of this Cultural Week as a new starting point, make efforts to broaden “new channels” for economic and trade co-operation, concentrate its strengths on creating a “new engine” for industrial synergy, activate “new resources” for financial empowerment, build a “new vehicle” for people-to-people connectivity, and join hands to create a “new hub” for interconnection and connectivity, writing a brand-new chapter of mutual benefit and shared gains with Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
Mr. Arlindo do Rosário, Ambassador of Cabo Verde to China, also delivered a speech and stressed that there are areas which constitute common ground for Sino-Lusophone co-operation, namely infrastructure and renewable energy, food value chains, ecotourism, technological innovation, as well as trade and financing. He suggested prioritising industrial ecosystems, such as free trade zones and technology parks, and invited Chinese enterprises to explore the enormous potential and economic investment opportunities existing in Portuguese-speaking Countries.
Mr. Fu Jianguo, President of the Macao Chinese Enterprises Association, expressed his expectation that the event would serve as a starting point to promote more Qinghai-branded products to the world, foster precise alignment between green capital and quality projects in Qinghai, and explore new models of co-operation in sectors such as commercial circulation, cold chain logistics and urban services, so as to present Qinghai’s magnificent landscapes and ethnic culture on the international stage.
Mr. Ji Xianzheng, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao, said that the expansion of the Cultural Week to Qinghai this year, together with the organisation of the commercial meeting, represented a concrete measure for implementing the Co-operation Agreement signed between the Permanent Secretariat and Qinghai Province in 2025. In his speech, he expressed the hope that all parties would take culture as a bond and economic and trade relations as a foundation, and explore and deepen co-operation in priority areas such as clean energy, traditional Chinese and Tibetan medicine, ecological and cultural tourism, among others, injecting new momentum into pragmatic co-operation.
During the event, three agreements on economic, trade and cultural co-operation were signed. This was followed by the Qinghai-Macao Business Matching Session and the Presentation Session of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Co-operation and Development Fund.
Alongside the various economic and trade co-operation activities, the Cultural Week of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries is also presenting performances and cultural showcases. On 4 and 5 July, from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., music and dance performances will take place at Tangdao 637 Plaza in Xining, allowing residents and visitors to experience at close range the cultural diversity of Portuguese-speaking Countries. More information is available on the official website: semanacultural.forumchinaplp.org.mo.
