The Second Conference of the Forum on Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese- speaking Countries will be held here from Sept. 24 to 25. The following is a brief introduction to Portugal, one of the seven Portuguese-speaking countries:

Facing the Atlantic Ocean and bordering Spain, Portugal is located in the southwestern part of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe.Covering a territorial area of 92,100 square kilometers, the country has a population of 10.449 million.

Acclaimed as the "kingdom of cork", Portugal has 3.6 million hectares of forestry, accounting for one-third of the country's territory. Portugal is rich in tungsten and copper resources. Its export of marble ranks the second in the world.

With beautiful mountains and coastal landscapes, Portugal has a well-developed tourism industry, thanks to its many scenic spots and historical sites. The yearly arrivals of foreign tourists in the country exceeds its total population, and its tourism revenue came to 6 billion euros in 2005.

Textile, garment, food, papermaking, cork, electronic machinery, pottery and porcelain, as well as wine-making constitute the principal industries of Portugal. The country is one of the leading wine producers in the world, and has also registered a rapid growth in its services industry in recent years.

Portugal established diplomatic relations with China in 1979.

In 1987, the Chinese and Portuguese governments reached an agreement on solving the Macao Issue left over from history through consultation on an equal footing, and signed a joint statement on the Macao Issue. Consequently, China resumed its exercise of sovereignty over Macao on Dec. 20, 1999.

The friendly Sino-Portuguese relationship has facilitated the continuous growth of their bilateral trade. By 2005, the two-way trade amounted to 1.219 billion U.S. dollars, with China's exports to Portugal reaching 896 million dollars, imports, 323 million dollars.

China's exports to Portugal include textiles, footwear, plastic products, audio and video products, toys, traveling goods including trunks and bags, steel, pottery and porcelain products and lighting equipment.

Portugal's exports to China cover capacitors, primary plastic products, paper and paperboard and pharmaceuticals.

After Macao's return to the motherland, Macao and Portugal have signed a series of agreements on mutual encouragement and protection of investment, and on cooperation in science and technology, public health, and banking.

Source: Xinhua