Macau: A Seat for Sino-Lusophone Commercial Arbitration

Abstract

One of the most meaningful paths of China's economic and diplomatic 'charm offensive' is the promotion of high-level contacts with the Portuguese-speaking countries. China is well aware of the potentials which derive from the use of the Portuguese language as a means of strategic projection. Macau plays an unmatched role in the promotion of economic and trade cooperation between China and the 'Lusophone World'. In 2010, during the third Ministerial Conference of the 'Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries', the Ministers agreed to analyse the comparative advantages of Macau in the knowledge of Chinese and Portuguese-speaking legal systems, promoting Macau as one of the venues for arbitration regarding eventual disputes concerning trade between Chinese and Portuguese-speaking entrepreneurs. In this article we discuss the comparative advantages and weaknesses of Macau as a seat for commercial arbitration between entrepreneurs from China and Portuguese-speaking countries. To assert itself as a reliable seat for international arbitration between two such different worlds, Macau needs to adopt a more proactive approach towards arbitration, inter alia by improving its statutory regime and enhancing its pool of experienced legal professionals and translators with the proper language skills and cultural awareness.