Backgrounder: Macao -- bridge for exchange between China and Portuguese-speaking countries

Macao is now busy hosting the Second Conference of the Forum on Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries scheduled for Sept. 24 to 25. The following is a brief introduction to Macao:

Macao is very small, with an area of about 28 square kilometers and a population of less than 500,000; Macao, however, is very big, with two great cultures -- the Chinese and the Latin cultures - blended here.

As a result of close contacts with Portuguese-speaking countries for more than 400 years, Macao's traditional Chinese culture has absorbed the factor of the Portuguese-language culture. This characteristics makes today's Macao a bridge for exchange between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

Since its return to the motherland in 1999, Macao's intermediary role between China and Portuguese-speaking countries has become increasingly prominent, greatly pushing forward the relations between the two sides. In 2003, it was in Macao that China signed a series of agreements on expanding trade, investment and economic cooperation with Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau and Timor-Leste. In 2004, it was from Macao that Portuguese Telecom, the largest company of Portugal, decided to enter the Chinese market. In 2004, volume of two-way trade between China and Brazil increased by 780 percent from 1999; and Angola became one of China's largest crude oil suppliers.

Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah of the Macao Special Administrative Region has said, "Macao is a completely open market with advantages of low operational costs, low taxation, low cost of living indexes, improved infrastructure, a stable banking system and high mobility. Macao is a free trade port, where the import of raw materials and industrial equipment is free from taxation and ceiling, and foreign currencies can flow in and out freely. Thanks to its status of a separate customs territory, a founding member of the World Trade Organization and an associated member of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) as well as its extensive international connections, Macao will play a competent role on the platform of regional trade and commercial services."

Source: Xinhua