A Portuguese lawyer in Macao, Frederico Rato, has become the first lawyer in the city to sit on the Guangzhou Arbitration Commission, which intends to mediate in trade disputes between parties in China and in Portuguese-speaking parts of the world, Lusa reports.

The commission, over the Macao border in the mainland Chinese city of Guangzhou, means to make use of legal experts proficient in Portuguese and familiar with lusophone markets, Mr Rato is quoted as saying in a report carried by the Portuguese news agency on Wednesday.

Mr Rato said the commission believes growth in flows of trade and investment between China on one hand, and Angola, Brazil and Mozambique on the other, would fuel demand for arbitration and mediation.

Lusa says Mr Rato helped in February tighten ties between the commission and arbitration services in Brazil, including the Brazilian Foreign Trade Association Conflict Mediation Chamber.

The commission aims to set up an arrangement for Chinese and Brazilian companies to settle their disputes online, Lusa quotes Mr Rato as saying.