China is seeking cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries on clinching
an investment protection agreement to safeguard legitimate rights of investing
companies from both sides, said a senior Chinese commerce official in Macau
yesterday.
An min, Chinese vice minister of commerce, said at the Forum for Economic and
Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries which opened
yesterday, that international investment has become an increasingly important
approach for countries to engage each other in economic cooperation.
In order to promote investment, capital recipients are bound to resort to
legal means to protect investment and thus attract more investors to China.
China has currently clinched IPA with 105 countries, including three
Portuguese-speaking countries, namely Portugal, Mozambique and Cape Verde.
"China has become more decisive in securing IPA agreement with foreign
countries as more Chinese firms are investing overseas," said the vice minister,
adding that China will actively seek negotiations with those Portuguese-speaking
countries that it has yet to engage in IPA talks.
China is also willing to strengthen bilateral cooperation with IPA signatory
countries and further amend IPA articles.
Figures from the Ministry of Commerce suggested that by the end of 2002,
Portuguese-speaking countries were involved in 299 investment projects in China
worth US$364 million.
Meanwhile, China has accumulated 82 projects in the Portuguese-speaking
countries with an investment of US$184 million.
An said China can provide a huge market for the seven resource-rich
Portuguese-language countries.
Elsewhere, development of human resources topped the agenda of the discussion
session. In his speech, An said that worldwide human resources construction
still falls behind actual demand, with a huge gap existing between developing
and developed countries in this regard.
The portuguese-speaking countries, including Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde,
Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and East Timor, are developing markets.
Chen jian, assistant to China's minister of commerce, said that Macau has
been serving as a bridge for trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking
countries.
According to figures provided by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China's
trade volume with Portuguese-speaking countries soared to US$4.73 billion in the
first half of 2003, tripling that in the same period of last year.
Macau will soon sign the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement with the
mainland, which will further facilitate its platform role on China's foreign
trade, Chen said.
