As Perspetivas de Cooperação Económica entre Portugal e a China

Abstract:

As Perspetivas de Cooperação Económica entre Portugal e a China exposes how Since the state visit of President Xi Jinping to Portugal in December 2018, a framework for diplomatic relations between Portugal and China has been established, with a high level of cooperation in areas such as economy and trade, investment and finance, energy, technology, blue economy, education and culture. Of the 17 cooperation protocols signed then between Portuguese and Chinese governmental and private institutions, one is of particular relevance because it structures in a very significant way the level of cooperation between the two countries and its framework in the new global context. I am referring to the cooperation protocol between the governments of Portugal and China, within the framework of the Silk Road Economic Belt Initiative and the New 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. The presence of Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa at the “Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation”, which was held in Beijing from 25 to 27 April 2019, confirms the importance of the signing of this protocol and the prospects for economic cooperation that it opens, both in bilateral and multilateral relations. According to the signed document, the vision of the multilaterality of this cooperation is expressed with regard to other EU countries but implicit in the relationship with other Portuguese-speaking countries, mostly African developing countries, with the Belt and Road Initiative (IFR) focusing especially on connectivity between countries aimed at sustainable development objectives.

Quotation:

Fernanda Ilhéu (2019), As Perspetivas de Cooperação Económica entre Portugal e a China. O Economista-Anuário da Economia Portuguesa, 32ª Edição, Ordem dos Economistas, ISBN 1646-9909, pp:40-45, Lisboa.