The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce talked about the results of the 6th Ministerial Conference of Forum Macao

Source: Xinhua News Agency

The opening ceremony of the 6th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) taken on 22 April. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Wang Shen

Macao, April 23 (Xinhua) -- The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) was held in Macao from 21 to 23 April. The meeting was attended by delegations from nine Portuguese-speaking countries, including Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste. The relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Commerce was interviewed by Xinhua News Agency reporters on the relevant situation of the meeting.

Q: The 6th Ministerial Conference of Forum Macao has been successfully held.

A: This year marks the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland. As a grand event of friendship and cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, the 6th Ministerial Conference of Forum Macao was successfully held in Macao with the active support and joint efforts of all parties. The conference has the following features:

First, all parties attach great importance to it and make serious preparations. This is the first time in eight years that the Ministerial Conference of Forum Macao has been held in Macao, and the participants attached great importance to it, made meticulous preparations for the preparation and convening of the meeting, and fully communicated with each other for the practical results of the meeting. Li Hongzhong, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech, which was attended by government delegations from nine Portuguese-speaking countries. The Macao SAR Government actively hosted the conference and gave full play to Macao's role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, ensuring the complete success of the conference.

Second, the meeting was fruitful and the future can be expected. During the meeting, a series of activities were held, such as the opening ceremony, the ministerial meeting, and the signing ceremony of the Action Plan for Economic and Trade Cooperation (2024-2027), and important results were achieved. At the opening ceremony, Li Hongzhong announced 20 measures for China to promote economic and trade co-operation with Portuguese-speaking countries, covering various fields such as trade and investment, industrial co-operation, development co-operation, human resources, health care and the development of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries platform. These measures are closely aligned with the needs of the participating countries of the Forum, highlighting the characteristics of development priority, inclusiveness and inclusiveness, which will help China and Portuguese-speaking countries achieve equality, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation. The Ministers of the participating countries of the Forum signed the Action Plan for Economic and Trade Co-operation (2024-2027), which, while continuing to deepen cooperation in traditional fields, actively promote cooperation in the fields of digital economy, green development and blue economy, and give full play to the role of people-to-people exchanges such as education and human resources, culture and tourism, radio and television, etc., and make concrete plans for strengthening cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in various fields in the coming period.

The third is to deepen unity and cooperation and work hand in hand. The conference covered all the countries in the world where Portuguese is the official language, and nine Portuguese-speaking countries gathered in Macao for the first time to participate in Forum Macao, marking a new stage in the development of Forum Macao, fully proving that the Forum has a strong international appeal and appeal, and that China and Portuguese-speaking countries have a long-lasting friendship that keeps pace with the times, and that they are partners of openness, cooperation and hand in hand. During their stay in Macao, the Chinese government delegation also met with delegations from the governments of Portuguese-speaking countries and held friendly talks and had in-depth exchanges on strengthening economic and trade cooperation in the next stage.

Q: Forum Macao has been established for 21 years, could you please tell us about the achievements of Forum Macao since its establishment?

A: With language and culture as the link and economic and trade cooperation as the theme, Forum Macao has played an important role in promoting exchanges and cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in various fields, and has been fully recognized by the participating countries, becoming a model of friendship and cooperation between countries with different social systems, different cultural backgrounds, different stages of development and different sizes, as well as a vivid practice of promoting the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.

The first is to promote the strengthening of political mutual trust between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. So far, Forum Macao has held six ministerial meetings and one special session, with the governments of China and Portuguese-speaking countries attaching great importance to the previous sessions, and dignitaries from the participating countries have visited Macao for many times. Through high-level intergovernmental visits, consultations between senior officials and local cooperation, Forum Macao has effectively promoted the continuous development of friendly relations between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and strengthened political mutual trust, laying a solid foundation for expanding and deepening cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in various fields.

The second is to promote the continuous deepening of practical cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Since the establishment of the Forum, economic and trade co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries has developed rapidly and yielded fruitful results. In 2023, the trade volume between China and Portuguese-speaking countries reached US$220.9 billion, about 20 times that of the Forum, and by the end of 2023, China's investment stock in Portuguese-speaking countries amounted to nearly US$80 billion, and the turnover of contracted projects was about US$140 billion. At the same time, the number of areas of cooperation between the two sides has been deepened and expanded, from 7 in 2003 to more than 20 at present, covering major economic and social fields such as economy and trade, education, health, sports, and tourism. China has also continued to carry out development cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries in Asia and Africa, which has improved the well-being of the people of their countries.

The third is to promote closer people-to-people exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. China and Portuguese-speaking countries have built bridges of people-to-people ties through people-to-people exchanges. Since the establishment of the Forum, the "Chinese language fever" in Portuguese-speaking countries and the "Portuguese-language fever" in China have been heating up, and the number of universities in China offering Portuguese-speaking majors and the number of people studying Chinese in Portuguese-speaking countries have been increasing. So far, Forum Macao has held 15 editions of the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Cultural Week, and has successively held artistic exchange activities such as the Portuguese-speaking Carnival, the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Cultural and Arts Festival, the Cultural Forum, and the Film and Television Art Exhibition, which have effectively promoted cultural exchanges between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and enhanced understanding and friendship between the two sides.

Q: As the permanent host of Forum Macao, what role does Macao play in economic and trade co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries?

A: Macao is a bridge connecting China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and has long played an important role as a service platform for commercial and trade co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Through the Macao-China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Platform, Forum Macao organizes dozens of exchanges, promotions and matchmaking activities every year to promote the deepening of economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and the international profile of Macao's China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Platform continues to grow. The Macao SAR Government has vigorously supported the development of Forum Macao, and has been actively building a food distribution centre for Portuguese-speaking countries, a convention and exhibition centre for economic and trade co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, a commercial and trade service centre for small and medium-sized enterprises between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and a financial service platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. With the joint efforts of all parties, Macao's China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Platform has been continuously improved, and a comprehensive service system has been basically formed, with economic and trade co-operation services as the center, and coordinated development and joint promotion in the fields of scientific research, traditional Chinese medicine, cultural tourism, convention and exhibition, and finance. For example, the headquarters of the China-PSC Fund in Macao has invested a total of US$470 million in Portuguese-speaking countries, driving Chinese enterprises to invest more than US$5 billion in Portuguese-speaking countries.

In the next step, we will work with Portuguese-speaking countries to continuously enrich the connotation of Macao's China-PSC platform, expand services in the fields of economy, trade, investment, finance, science and technology, and people-to-people relations, so as to better play Macao's role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Q: In the next step, how will the Chinese central government deepen cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries under the framework of Forum Macao?

A: At present, China is comprehensively promoting Chinese-style modernization with high-quality development, which will provide more new opportunities for the world and a broader space for cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. In the future, we will actively implement the outcomes of this meeting and the consensus reached by all parties, and continue to deepen cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries.

The first is to expand the scale of economic and trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. China will firmly uphold the multilateral trading system, promote the building of an open world economy, negotiate and sign more free trade agreements and investment protection agreements with willing Portuguese-speaking countries, and enhance the facilitation of trade and investment cooperation. We will further open up the market and make good use of major exhibitions such as the CIIE, the Canton Fair and the CIFTIS to promote the export of products from Portuguese-speaking countries to China, while continuing to expand the opening up of the service sector and share the Chinese market with Portuguese-speaking countries.

The second is to expand cooperation between China and Portugal in emerging fields. Digitalization and greening have become two major trends in global economic and social development, as well as important driving forces for economic growth. China is willing to strengthen exchanges with Portuguese-speaking countries, align with the Framework Initiative for International Economic and Trade Co-operation in Digital Economy and Green Development, promote the continuous expansion of cooperation areas in Forum Macao, and actively create new drivers of development such as digital and green development, and develop new quality productive forces. China will also promote the establishment of blue partnerships with Portuguese-speaking countries and deepen cooperation and exchanges in marine renewable energy and marine resource protection.

The third is to deepen cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries in the field of development. China will actively practice the concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, take the initiative to shoulder its responsibilities as a major country, and provide assistance to Portuguese-speaking countries in Asia and Africa to the best of its ability. A number of "small but beautiful" projects have been built in Portuguese-speaking countries in Asia and Africa to benefit local people's livelihood. Further strengthen cooperation in the fields of infrastructure, telecommunications, energy, agriculture and natural resources, and enhance the endogenous driving force for the economic and social development of the Portuguese-speaking countries in Asia and Africa.

Fourth, to enhance Macao's role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. China will continue to support Macao in giving full play to the role of Forum Macao, building a high-standard and comprehensive platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, better building a food distribution centre for Portuguese-speaking countries, a convention and exhibition centre for economic and trade co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and a commercial and trade service centre for small and medium-sized enterprises between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, and organizing the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Economic and Trade Expo, so as to deepen Macao's more open and closer exchanges and cooperation with other countries and regions, and provide a higher level of services for trade and investment, financial co-operation, cultural exchanges and talent training between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.