Annexes to JOIN(2020)12 - Macao: annual report for 2019 - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | JOIN(2020)12 - Macao: annual report for 2019. |
|---|---|
| document | JOIN(2020)12 |
| date | July 22, 2020 |
Cooperation in the field of financial services advanced in 2019. In February, the GBA blueprint tasked Macao with carrying out a feasibility study on establishing a renminbi-denominated securities market. In October, the Macao Monetary Authority submitted an application to the central government in this direction. In July, China issued the first two billion renminbi (US$286 million) of offshore government bonds in Macao.
Around President Xi Jinping's visit to Macao in December 2019, a raft of measures to support economic diversification was announced, with a particular focus on the financial sector. The most publicised was an announcement by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) that the daily limit on renminbi remittances from Macao would be increased from 50,000 to 80,000 renminbi, bringing it to the same level as Hong Kong. Since these remittances, however, refer to transfers by individuals, not companies, the announcement was largely symbolic. In addition, there were reports that plans to set up a new renminbi -dominated stock exchange and a renminbi settlement centre would be accelerated. Policies were also revealed to encourage mainland banks and insurance companies to set up operations in Macao, and to provide support to mainland finance firms for expanding into Macao.
As regards its role as a bridge between China and Portuguese-speaking countries (PSC), Macao aims at being a renminbi clearing centre and a commercial and trade service hub for PSC and China, a trading hub for products from PSC, and a convention and exhibition centre for economic and trade cooperation.
Together with Zhuhai, Macao is co-developing the island of Hengqin, located east of Macao in Guangdong province. Hengqin hosts infrastructure including a ‘Youth Entrepreneurship Valley’, the Guangdong-Macao TCM Science and Technology Industrial Park, the Guangdong-Macao Cooperation Industrial Park, and the campus of the University of Macao. During his visit to Macao, President Xi announced that Macao would be allocated further land on the island to support its further development in areas such as education and healthcare.
EU-Macao bilateral relations
In 2019, the EU remained Macao’s second-largest source of imports after mainland China, accounting for 27.6% of Macao’s total imports. On the other hand, only 1.5% of the SAR's exports of goods went to Europe. The EU continues to maintain long-standing trade surpluses with Macao. An explanation for that is that Macao's import demand has grown steadily over the years, in tandem with the growth of its gaming and tourism sectors, while its manufacturing sector has shrunk to roughly 1% of GDP.
Bilateral trade in goods rose by 27.1% to €1.2 billion in 2019. EU exports to Macao reached €1.1 billion, a 33.2% increase y-o-y, resulting in a trade surplus of €1 billion. Macao is a growing market for European luxury goods. Major EU export products included high-end leather goods, clothing, watches and jewellery, food and beverages, and automobiles.
The EU is Macao’s third-largest foreign investor after Hong Kong and mainland China (excluding offshore centres). According to Macao statistics, the EU accounted for 5.3% (MOP 15.6 billion) of total FDI stock in 2018. Portugal alone accounts for 60% of EU investment in Macao, or MOP 9.2 billion.
The 23rd EU-Macao Joint Committee meeting was held in Brussels on 11 June 2019. It dealt with a broad range of subjects, including trade and investment, multilateral cooperation, taxation, government procurement, combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, environmental matters, and trafficking of human beings.
A co-funding mechanism under the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme was established following the EU-Macao Joint Committee meeting in 2015. In November 2019, the EU and the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macao (FDCT) jointly organised a conference in Macao to present opportunities for cooperation with Europe and discuss ways to improve Macao's participation in Horizon 2020, since no entity from Macao had been selected for funding under that programme.
As is the case every year, in 2019 the Macao European Chamber of Commerce (MECC 1 ) and the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong jointly coordinated European participation in the Macao International Environment Cooperation Forum and Exhibition (MIECF) in March and in the Macao International Trade and Investment Fair (MIF) in October.
The Macao-EU Cooperation Programme in the Legal Field contributes to the modernisation and development of Macao’s legal system. Possibilities for extending cooperation in this field are being explored. The EU and Macao continued their longstanding collaboration on conference interpretation in 2019. Training courses for interpreters from Macao have been organised with trainers from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Interpretation since 2006. Since 2010, annual seminars have been held in the Macao Polytechnic Institute (MPI), bringing together EU trainers and interpreters from various Chinese ministries, as well as course leaders from universities in Macao and mainland China. The new International Portuguese Training Centre for Conference Interpreting, inaugurated in December 2019 at the MPI, has benefited the academic strand of EU-Macao cooperation in this field.
(1)
The Macao European Chamber of Commerce is a hybrid organisation with both direct members (representing companies) and members from the national chambers of commerce of EU countries.