The new secretary-general of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macau), Ji Xianzheng, arrived in Macau yesterday and started working right away, the secretariat said in a statement yesterday.
The local institution under the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) is also known as Forum Macau. It was set up by the central government in 2003 to promote economic and trade ties between China and the Portuguese-speaking world via Macau.
According to the statement, Ji previously served as deputy director of the Department for European Affairs of the Ministry of Commerce, where he was responsible for economic and trade affairs between China and European countries.
Prior, he worked as a career diplomat in the Economic and Commercial Department of the Chinese embassy in Portugal. Between 2009 and 2018, he was economic and commercial affairs adviser in the Chinese embassy in Spain and in the Chinese embassy in Venezuela, respectively.
Over the years, the statement pointed out, Ji has focused on trade diplomacy, “having accumulated extensive experience in foreign and trade affairs, and in-depth knowledge of the markets of Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries.
Ji succeeds Xu Yingzhen who became Chinese ambassador to São Tomé and Príncipe in November 2020, two months after her posting to Macau had ended.
Undated file photo of the new secretary-general of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macau, Ji Xianzheng, released by his office yesterday.
