A cooperation protocol was signed between the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region and the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre of the Ministry of Education and Science of Portugal. The signing ceremony, which took place in the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre in Portugal on 21 October 2015, was attended by Mr Ung Vai Meng, President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macao, Ms Andrea Direito, Advisor of the Office of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao, Ms Lau Fong, Director of the Historical Archives of Macao, Professor Luís Filipe Barreto, President of the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre and Mr Rui de Faria Afonso de Abreu Dantas, Chief of the Division of Museum Studies, Training and Interactive Technologies of the Centre.

It is anticipated that the protocol will enhance a mutual cooperation in cultural fields by means of information exchange and promotion of activities organized by the two institutions; closer ties for the museums, libraries and archives of the two sides and promotion of the historic and present relations between the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China and Portugal.

The Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre is a public institute of the Ministry of Education and Science of Portugal. Founded in late 1990, it develops inter- and multidisciplinary research and cooperation projects focused on China, Macao, East Asia and Euro-Asia relations. There are three divisions in the Centre: Museum Studies, Training and Interactive Technologies; Documentation, Research and Scientific Cooperation; and Technical and Administrative Support. The Centre publishes in multiple languages and formats. Its editorial plan includes historical information, critical publications, conference publications, teaching manuals, museum guides, bi-annual newsletters and other publications in partnership with local and overseas institutions. The Macau Museum in Lisbon under its auspices is the only historical-cultural museum about Macau outside the People's Republic of China and it displays one of the most complete and abundant collection of Chinese art in Portugal.  The Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre boasts the most completed and up to date library of Chinese materials in the Iberian Peninsula. It is also a centre for continuing and advanced training, exhibitions and seminars for the dissemination of culture.

The exhibition "Shanghai Portuguese Refugees in Macao (1937-1964)", which is currently presented in the Historical Archives of Macao is scheduled to be relocated and continued in the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre in October 2016. This event will mark the beginning of a friendly cooperation between the two institutions and a new impulse to the cultural exchange between China and Portugal.