A delegation of the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao), led by Deputy Secretaries-General Mr Ding Tian and Mr Rodrigo Brum, visited Wuhan and Yichang, in Hubei Province, from May 19 to 23.
The delegation included representatives from Portuguese-speaking Countries that had participated in a workshop held in Macao. The Hubei visit was part of a series of events aimed at strengthening exchanges between Hubei and Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as to promote further cooperation on production capacity and boost Macao’s role as a platform between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries.
The delegation met with Vice-Governor of Hubei, Mr Cao Guangjing. Mr Cao said the province would further improve its production capacity and enhance its development strategy in order to strengthen regional coordination under a new development concept; one which would help expand and deepen the collaboration between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries, as well as create fresh opportunities for cooperation. By strengthening strategic cooperation with Portuguese-speaking Countries and enhancing collaboration in international production capacity, Hubei could enter a new phase of economic and trade development, he added.
During the visit to Wuhan, the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Hubei Provincial People’s Government, co-organised the “Business Matching Event on Production Capacity Cooperation between Hubei, Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries”. Participants included: Vice-Governor Cao; Deputy-Secretary General of the Hubei Provincial People’s Government, Mr Hu Daoyin; officials from Hubei’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office; officials of the National Development and Reform Commission; and officials dealing with, respectively, the economy and information technology; agriculture; commerce; and culture and tourism; officials from the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission; the Federation of Industry and Commerce; and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. In attendance also were people from more than 90 local companies representing sectors including: architectural engineering, mining, agriculture, food and oil supply, packaging, logistics, supply services, vehicle-making, technology, information, communication, biotechnology, medicine, pharmaceuticals, environmental matters, finance, the law, the media, and culture and creativity.
At the business-matching event, Mr Cao gave a brief presentation on the exchanges between Hubei and Portuguese-speaking Countries, and said Hubei aimed to deepen cooperation on production capacity. The official noted that the countries involved represented a huge market, having plentiful resources; while Hubei was strong in terms of production capacity. The business-matching effort was expected to bring a bright future to all involved, he added. To strengthen further the cooperation between Hubei, Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute has already set up an Economic and Trade Representative Office in Wuhan.
Deputy Secretary-General of the Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao Mr Ding Tian gave an introduction on the work of Forum Macao and Macao’s platform role, and the situations concerning production capacity cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. Mr Ding stressed the natural connection between Macao and Portuguese-speaking Countries regarding communication, language and culture,which helped Chinese firms to invest in these countries and promote further economic and trade exchanges between Hubei and Portuguese-speaking Countries under the “Belt and Road” initiative.
Representatives of local companies shared insights on their experiences regarding investment in Portuguese-speaking Countries, such as in infrastructure and agriculture. A representative of consultancy company Macao Perfeição Lda spoke regarding consultancy services relating to commerce between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries. Representatives from each of the Portuguese-speaking Countries gave an introduction on the investment environment in their respective country, as well as preferential policies and production-capacity projects. Those representatives also participated in a business-matching session with local companies in Hubei.
While in Wuhan, the delegation visited the National High-tech Industrial Development Zone; the Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone; the National Optoelectronics Industry Base Wuhan – Optics Valley of China; and Fiberhome Technologies. During the visit, Mr Ding and representatives from Portuguese-speaking Countries were interviewed by several Hubei media outlets.
The Permanent Secretariat of Forum Macao organised the visit to Hubei and invited all 24 participants from Forum Macao’s “Workshop on Finance Cooperation for Portuguese-speaking Countries”. This was in order to strengthen exchanges between Portuguese-speaking Countries and Chinese firms, and to explain Hubei’s advantages for development. Through direct contact between the firms, companies from Portuguese-speaking Countries would be able to promote better their investment projects and deepen cooperation with Chinese companies, taking advantage of Macao’s platform role as well as of the multilateral cooperation system provided by Forum Macao.
