Organized by the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao) and coordinated by the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao (GMTCM Park), the closing and certificate awarding ceremony of the Seminar on Co-operation in Traditional Medicine between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries was held on October 25 at MGM MACAU. 

The ceremony was attended by Ji Xianzheng, Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao; Li Huaying, Deputy Director-General of the Economic Affairs Department and Head of the Commercial Office of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; Xu Yanbin, Assistant General Manager of the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao Development Company; Aurélio de Jesus Chiconela, Charge d’Affaires ad interim of the Consulate General of Mozambique in Macao, and others.

The Secretary-General Ji Xianzheng stated in his speech that, through information exchange, experience sharing, exchange visits and dialogue in the Seminar, students from Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs) have enhanced expertise and practical experience in traditional medicine, which are conducive to China and PSCs to work closely in the fields of medicine and public health. In addition, students participated in the 29th Macao International Trade & Investment Fair and the 16th Cultural Week of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. These events helped deepen their understanding of Macao’s role as the China-Portuguese-speaking Countries Commercial and Trade Service Platform while allowing them to experience the charisma of the integration of history and culture between China and PSCs.

The Assistant General Manager Xu Yanbin noted that the GMTCM Park is an important platform for promoting the moderately diversified development of Macao’s industries and facilitating the industrialization, modernization and globalization of traditional Chinese medicine. By adopting the international promotion model of “introducing medicine through medical treatment”, leveraging PSCs and targeting Belt and Road countries, the GMTCM Park would gradually build a public service platform for TCM trade in services connecting countries and regions in PSCs, the EU, ASEAN and America. Xu hoped that students could bring the knowledge and experience they gained back to their countries. In doing so, they could contribute to the traditional medicine industry in their countries and create more opportunities for cooperation, thus fostering the prosperous development of traditional medicine and public health between China and PSCs.

The leader of the Seminar Feliciano Njele Hequele indicated that the Seminar has not only showcased the profoundness of TCM but also provided a platform for participating PSCs to engage in dialogue and share experiences in the field. The series of activities of the Seminar has broadened the students’ horizons and consolidated collaboration. Feliciano Njele Hequele agreed that the China-PSCs cooperation in traditional medicine was promising and believed that through joint efforts and knowledge exchange, all parties could continue to advance medical health development, improve people’s livelihoods for the benefit of all nations and collectively work towards a healthier and more peaceful future.

This Seminar is the second training course held by the Training Center of Forum Macao this year. It took place between October 14 and 26 in Macao and Guangdong Province, including Guangzhou, Hengqin of Zhuhai, and Jiangmen. A total of 15 officials and technicians from Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, and Timor-Leste took part in the Seminar. The topics they covered comprised the health preservation effects brought by the TCM diet, the progress of the research on TCM modernization, traditional medicine development and cooperation in PSCs, the model of expanding the international platform of TCM industrial parks under the “Belt and Road” strategy, and others. During their stay in Macao, they visited the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute, the University of Macau, the 29th Macao International Trade & Investment Fair, and the 16th Cultural Week of China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. They also went to the Seac Pai Van Park to collect medicinal plants and learn about TCM herbs. In Guangzhou, they visited the Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Chinese Medicine. In Jiangmen, they visited the China time-honored brand, Xin Bao Tang, and other first-class TCM enterprises. In Hengqin, they went to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Science and Technology Industrial Park of Co-operation between Guangdong and Macao and the exhibition hall of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, alongside exchanges with relevant departments.

The attendees of the closing ceremony also include: Xie Ying, Danilo Afonso Henriques, and Casimiro de Jesus Pinto, Deputy Secretaries-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao; Li Xiaohui, Coordinator of the Executive Office; Abdú Jaquité, Coordinator of the Liaison Office and Representative of Guinea-Bissau; Vincent U, Coordinator of the Support Office and delegates of PSCs.