The central government yesterday put forward 18 new measures to boost relations with Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs) in the next three years.
The measures were announced during the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
The following document detailing the 18 measures was released by the conference organisers yesterday.
I. Co-operation in Production Capacity
1. Promote closer industry connections and co-operation in production capacity between China and PSCs participating in the forum, encourage companies to establish or upgrade economic and trade co-operation zones in PSCs, boost the industrialisation of Asian and African PSCs participating in the forum, and strengthen co-operation with PSCs in infrastructure planning and development to improve infrastructure connectivity;
2. On the basis of market operation, facilitate partnerships with companies from PSCs to develop third-party markets;
3. Provide Asian and African PSCs participating in the forum with concessional loans worth no less than 2 billion yuan to promote industry connections and capacity co-operation with these countries and to further strengthen co-operation in infrastructure development.
II. Development Co-operation
4. Provide Asian and African PSCs participating in the forum with a grant worth 2 billion yuan to assist these countries in their livelihood projects of key interest such as agricultural development, trade and investment facilitation, malaria prevention and treatment, and research on traditional medicines;
5. Write off 500 billion yuan of due interest-free loans of Asian and African PSCs participating in the forum;
6. Deepen healthcare exchanges and co-operation with PSCs participating in the forum, support Chinese hospitals to develop partnerships with hospitals in these countries, and execute healthcare programmes for women and children as well as free clinic treatment projects;
7. Continue to dispatch medical teams of 200 person-times to Asian and African PSCs participating in the forum.
Ill. People-to-people and Cultural Co-operation
8. Offer training opportunities to 2,000 trainees from PSCs participating in the forum;
9. Offer Chinese government scholarships of 2,500 person-years to candidates from PSCs participating in the forum;
10. Continue to help Asian and African PSCs participating in the forum to upgrade and renovate educational and cultural facilities;
11. Push for the establishment of cultural exchange platforms such as the China Culture Centre in PSCs participating in the forum where the conditions are mature.
IV. Marine Co-operation
12. By accommodating their diverse needs and features, help Asian and African PSCs participating in the forum to develop facilities such as marine meteorological observatories to respond to marine disasters and climate change challenges;
13. Carry out practical co-operation in marine fisheries development, marine environmental protection and marine eco-system research on the basis of respecting the wills of the countries participating in the forum.
V. Greater Role of Macau as a Platform
14. Support the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) to develop a financial services platform targeting China and PSCs in order to provide financial support for co-operation between Chinese companies and companies from PSCs;
15. Establish the Association of Enterprise Directors from China and PSCs, with its secretariat to be based in Macau;
16. Establish in Macau a Chinese-Portuguese bilingual talent training base and encourage Macau to engage in mainland-Macau joint diploma programmes funded by government aid to offer in-service diploma education opportunities to 30 candidates from PSCs participating in the forum;
17. Establish in Macau the Centre for Cultural Exchanges between China and PSCs and the Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Centre between China and PSCs;
18. Establish in Macau the Complex of Commerce and Trade Co-operation Platform for China and PSCs which will provide substantive support for co-operation between China and PSCs participating in the forum in multiple areas such as trade, investment, exhibition and convention and culture.
(N.B. The document has been edited for publication by The Macau Post Daily)
