Macao authorities want to invite prominent Portuguese business and civic leaders to visit the Chinese mainland, taking advantage of the new visa-free policy, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reports.
The new policy, which allows Portuguese nationals to visit the mainland without a visa for up to 15 days, comes into effect today.
Vincent U, the president of Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (known by its Portuguese initials IPIM), told Lusa that the organisation would invite Portuguese delegates at the 29th Macau International Fair to visit the mainland.
[See more: Portuguese citizens can travel to China visa-free from mid-October]
He added that the invitation would also be extended to a number of mayors and other civic leaders who are attending the fair, which begins tomorrow and runs until Saturday.
Beijing announced on 30 September that Portuguese nationals would be given the right to travel to the mainland without visas.
The omission of Portugal from earlier announcements of visa waivers – which covered countries such as France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain – sparked concerns that Lisbon was being snubbed for excluding Chinese-made telecommunications equipment from Portugal’s 5G network.
