On December 10, reported by CNR.CN, Premier Wen Jiabao attended Sino-Portuguese seminar on languages teaching cooperation and cultural diversity in Lisbon. He described strengthening languages exchanges would be a new bright spot in the cooperation of the two countries. He hoped that the language workers in two countries would join hands to make new contributions to the age-old Sino-Portuguese friendship.

"For last few years", Premier Wen said, "with increasing number of personnel exchanges between China and Portugal and other Portuguese speaking countries, as well as the advance of an all-round cooperation, learning each other's language and understanding its culture becomes a mutual need for both sides."

Wen Jiabao told his ideas to advance the cooperation. The two countries should, he said, learn and draw on each other's successful experience in promoting its own language and culture, mutually support each other in establishing language centers in its own country, like Confucius Institute and Portuguese Center, strengthen students exchanges to study each other's language and culture.

In the "Joint Statement of Chinese and Portuguese Governments for Strengthening Bilateral Relationship" signed by Wen Jiabao and Portuguese Prime Minister Socrates on Dec.9, the two sides agreed on cooperation in promoting each other's language and culture: by deepening the cooperation between Portuguese and Chinese languages institutes to streamline and improve Portuguese teaching in China, by activities of Confucius Institute to improve Chinese language teaching in Portugal; a trial program to include Portuguese into elementary and mid-level education in China, and Chinese language into the curricula in Portugal, and application of information and modern communication technology in language teaching.