Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On and Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva intend to further strengthen bilateral economic and cultural ties between the two sides, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) about a joint press conference on Saturday.
Chui said that Macau would assist Portuguese entrepreneurs in exploring business opportunities in Guangdong’s nine Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities and also in the Belt and Road (B&R) countries.
Chui said Macau would also work on developing Macau into a service platform for young businesspeople from mainland China and Portuguese-speaking countries. He also said that his government would further promote Macau’s role as a Portuguese language learning centre and offer scholarships for local students interested in attending post-graduate courses in Portugal.
Chui also pointed out that next year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the 40th anniversary of the establishment of relations between Portugal and the PRC and the 20th anniversary of Macau’s return to the motherland.
Chui’s second and final consecutive five-year term at the helm of the local government ends in December next year.
Port of Sines as B&R hub
Meanwhile, Santos Silva revealed at the press conference that President Xi Jinping will pay a state visit to Portugal on December 4-5.
According to informed sources, Xi is set to visit Portugal after attending the 2018 G20 Buenos Aires Summit.
Meanwhile, according to the Portuguese-language radio channel of TDM, Santos Silva said on the sidelines of his weekend visit that Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would visit China – including Macau – “soon”. Local Portuguese sources said they expected the visit to take place in the first quarter of next year. Beijing and Lisbon established diplomatic relations on February 2, 1979.
The foreign minister also said that China and Portugal were finalising a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on his country’s involvement in the B&R Initiative, with a special emphasis on infrastructure investment. He pointed out that 17 of the 28 European Union member states have already signed MOUs with Beijing on the B&R Initiative.
Santos Silva also said that Portugal’s Port of Sines would be the “best strategic point” for the B&R Initiative in Europe. He described Sines as one of the best deep-water harbours in Europe and underlined that Sines is mainland Europe’s port nearest to the Panama Canal.
Santos Silva said that Chinese investment in a new terminal in Sines was welcome as long as it was in line with Portuguese and European regulations. The 62-year-old history professor insisted that Portugal’s foreign policy was not being conducted in line with “mercantilist criteria”.
He also said, according to TDM that while Portugal and China agreed on many international issues such as multilateralism, sustainable development and North-South partnerships, there were issues were both countries were in disagreement, such as capital punishment.
Portugal was one of the first countries in the world that abolished the death penalty, in 1867.
Before visiting Macau, Santos Silva inaugurated Portugal’s consulate in Guangzhou. His 4-day China visit will end in Beijing this week where is scheduled to hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi, Commerce Minister Zhong Shan and Yang Jiechi, chief of the General Office of the Central Foreign Affairs Commission. Yang is the central authorities’ top foreign affairs official.
Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On (left) shakes hands with Portuguese Foreign Minister Augusto Santos Silva at Government Headquarters on Saturday. Photo: GCS
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