Fourteen years after the launch of the Mainland and
Macau Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) in 2004,
the economic and trade cooperation between mainland China and
Macau continues to be strengthened and enriched. Since 2016, a
series of amendments have been introduced to CEPA to improve
and update the existing provisions, in particular in the fields
of trade services, trading of goods, investment and economic
and technical cooperation.
As part of these efforts, two agreements were signed in
December 2017: the Investment Agreement (Notice of Chief
Executive 35/2018, announced in the Official Gazette); and the
Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation (Notice of
Chief Executive 36/2018, also announced in the Official
Gazette), introducing a new phase in the economic and trade
cooperation between the PRC and Macau. The Investment Agreement
covers the matters of admission of investments and investment
protection and facilitation, whereas liberalisation of access
to the market for investment is now extended to non-services
sectors. Investors from Macau benefit from national treatment
and most-favoured nation treatment. This means that, on the one
hand, investors from Macau enjoy the same treatment as PRC
investors and are subject to the same laws and regulations that
apply to investors from the PRC (except for those related to
certain listed sectors, such as investment in the areas of
exclusive economic zones). On the other hand, it also means
that any preferential treatment given by the PRC to investments
and investors from other countries or regions will be extended
to Macau should that treatment be more beneficial to the Macau
investors and investments than that offered under CEPA.
The Agreement on Economic and Technical Cooperation
reinforces the unique status of Macau as the platform for
commercial and trade cooperation between China and
Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs). This agreement extends
the cooperation to two new major cooperation areas: legal and
dispute resolution, and accounting. The aim of creating and
promoting arbitration centres in Macau for the resolution of
commercial disputes between China and PSCs is expressly
provided in this agreement. The Macau Legislative Assembly is
now considering reforming the local arbitration framework.
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João
Nuno Riquito |
Valéria Wong |