Portuguese soprano Elisabete Matos and conductor Joana Carneiro staged a concert at the Beijing Concert Hall with the China National Symphony Orchestra on Monday night to celebrate Portugal Day and kick off the 2019 Portugal Cultural Festival. 

The festival, a year-long program to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Portugal, consists of a series of cultural activities including folk and classical music concerts, film screenings and exhibitions

Jose Augusto Duarte, ambassador of Portugal to China, said on Monday that the cultural festival featuring various events shows the "friendship, mutual respect and common interest toward culture between the people of the two countries."

Portuguese Minister of Culture Graca Fonseca, who will also attend the second China-Portugual Literature Forum on Tuesday, said that music is something that transcends language. 

"Many things in culture can bring us together," she said. 

"The upcoming festival will be something that we can do for the future." 

A world-class soprano, Matos has performed in China several times.