A presentation ceremony, jointly hosted by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR), the local government and Macau’s public broadcaster TDM, was held yesterday at the TDM Forum II Studio in Zape, where the Portuguese-dubbed Chinese documentary film “Remarkable Construction” (Season 1), which focuses on China’s “remarkable” infrastructure development, was symbolically handed to four television stations from Portuguese-speaking Countries (PSCs), namely Angola, Cabo Verde, Mozambique, and São Tomé and Príncipe.
According to the official website of China Central Television (CCTV), the large-scale national documentary titled “Remarkable Construction”, launched in 2021, was jointly produced by China Media Group and China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The documentary, whose first season contains six episodes with each being about 45-minutes long, showcases the major infrastructure projects across the country.
According to a statement by TDM, it was given the task of translating the whole documentary into Portuguese.
The ceremony, titled “Construir em Conjunto um Mundo Moderno através da Divulgação do Espírito de Artesão” (“Constructing a Modern World Together through the Dissemination of Craftsman Spirit”), was co-officiated at by Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, Government Information Bureau (GCS) Director Inês Chan Lou, TDM Chairman of Board of Directors António José de Freitas and Vice-Chairwoman Lorman Lo Song Man.
Liu said in his speech that documentary films on infrastructure construction have brought the essence of China’s modern infrastructure development to life, showcasing the “business card” of modern China. He added that he hoped to further strengthen media cooperation between China and PSCs with a strong focus on cultural exchanges, and thus would continue to support the translation of more Chinese media products into the Portuguese language.
Freitas said in his speech that TDM would continue to make use of Macau’s unique cultural advantages to strengthen ties with the Lusophone (Portuguese-speaking) world, in order to forge ahead Macau’s development towards “One Centre, One Platform and One Base”, i.e., a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, an economic and trade cooperation platform for China and Portuguese-speaking countries as well as a cultural exchange and cooperation base.
The TDM statement said that the documentary was symbolically delivered to Consul General of Mozambique in Macau Rafael Custódio Marques and Consul General of Angola in Macau Eduardo Velasco Galiano, by Liu and Ao Ieong respectively.
Yesterday’s event also included a session where representatives of the four television stations from PSCs, namely Rádio Televisão de Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau Television, TV de Moçambique and Santomean TV, delivered speeches of thanks through live video link , recalling the long history of exchanges between their countries and China.
There are nine countries in the world that have Portuguese as their official language: Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Portugal, Timor-Leste (alongside Tetum), Guinea-Bissau, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea (alongside Spanish and French).
The nine PSCs have a total population of about 280 million.
(From left to right) TDM Chairman of Board of Directors António José de Freitas, Consul General of Angola Eduardo Velasco Galiano, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa, Consul General of Mozambique Rafael Custódio Marques, Government Information Bureau Director Inês Chan Lou and TDM Vice-Chairwoman Lorman Lo Song Man, pose at the end of yesterday’s documentary presentation ceremony at the TDM Forum II Studio. – Photo: GCS
