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The China-PSCs Complex to help cement Macao’s role as a trade platform

Macao has a long history with the Portuguese-speaking Countries and the relationship has flourished since the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) in 1999. It is relatively easy for people from these countries to do business or live in Macao, partly because Portuguese culture has taken root.

In line with national development policy, Macao has used its history to evolve itself into a Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
The Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), known as Forum Macao, and the Permanent Secretariat thereof were established in the city in 2003.

Since then, trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries has boomed. The annual value of trade between both sides rose by 1.55 percent in 2019 to about US$149.6 billion, official data show.

The first Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) was held in 2003, and later that year, Mainland China representatives and the participating Portuguese-speaking Countries signed the Strategic Plan for Economic and Trade Co-operation. Subsequent Ministerial Conferences have been productive, leading to the development of additional strategic plans.

At the 5th Ministerial Conference in 2016, the Central People’s Government announced a series of measures to increase co-operation between the partners, a move that cements Macao’s role as a Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.

In 2017, ground was broken at a site covering 14,000 square metres in Nam Van Lakeside Plaza for the construction of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform Complex (“the China-PSCs Complex”). The first phase of construction was completed at the end of 2019 and the second phase has commenced. The Complex is composed of two buildings, with a combined floor area of about 50,000 square metres.

All in one place

Beginning with the 6th edition of Ministerial Conference, the China-PSCs Complex will be the stage designated for the event. Other activities relevant to the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries platform will also be held at the Complex, including meetings about trade and investment, exhibitions and training courses – each playing their respective role to boost economic engagement between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

President Xi Jinping inspected the progress made in construction when he visited the city in 2019 to mark 20 years since the establishment of the Macao SAR. President Xi said the China-PSCs Complex was an embodiment of the national development strategy, and he acknowledged the progress Macao has made toward performing its function as a Commercial and Trade Co-operation Service Platform between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries. He described the China-PSCs Complex as an “important measure” in that progress. He remarked that one purpose of the China-PSCs Complex is to display distinctive goods produced by the Portuguese-speaking Countries.

The China-PSCs Complex will put multiple elements under one umbrella, including commercial and trade service facilities, matching sessions between buyers and sellers, investors and ventures; exhibition and cultural displays; and exchanges of information among all involved. The institution says the purpose is to make it easier to enrich economic engagement between China and the Portuguese-speaking Countries.