Almeida Zacarias Machava, from the Faculty of Law, University of Macau (UM), has passed his PhD thesis oral defense with excellent comments from the examiners, becoming Macao’s first doctor of law in Portuguese. Almeida’s supervisors were Prof. Manuel Carlos Lopes Porto from Coimbra University and Prof. Wei Dan from UM’s Faculty of Law.

The Examination Committee was chaired by Prof. Rui Martins, vice rector (research) of UM. Other members of the committee included Prof. Manuel Carlos Lopes Porto, Prof. António Rebelo de Sousa from the Technical University of Lisbon, Prof. José Manuel Quelhas and Prof. Luís Pedro Cunha from Coimbra University, as well as Prof. Liu Gaolong, Prof. Tong Io Cheng and Prof. Wei Dan from UM’s Faculty of Law. Prof. António Rebelo de Sousa noted that Almeida’s thesis concerns an important subject and can be considered a good scientific approach to the trade relations between China and Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP), with the presentation of interesting suggestions for the future.

Prof. Wei Dan thinks that the thesis presents a useful assessment on economic and trade relations between China and the PALOP, from an African’s perspective, and proposes some constructive suggestions and conclusions from both theoretical and practical perspectives, which Prof. Wei Dan thinks is quite important for any research in social sciences that want to make meaningful contributions for the ongoing economic and commercial cooperation between China and PALOP. As an African student who uses Portuguese to write PhD thesis, Almeida not only plays his strengths in Language and in legal knowledge on African law, but also acquires theoretical knowledge on China’s foreign trade law through his study at the UM. This also reflects the special teaching features of the University of Macau.

Titled “Economic and Trade Relations between China and African Portuguese-speaking Countries: Some Legal and Economic Aspects”, the thesis explores the legal dimension of the plurilateral relations between China and the PALOP, trying to identify the nature of the plurilateral relations as well as the legal regime that supports them. From the study, the author concludes that, essentially developed under the Declarations and Plans of Action adopted at the Ministerial Conferences of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the Macau Forum, relations between China and the PALOP have been developed within the framework of the so-called “soft law”, and despite positive economic and trade results, a more efficient and consistent legal framework is still needed. It is from this perspective that the author suggests the creation of a free trade area , which the author believes would set a harmonized legal framework to support the economic and trade relations between China and the PALOP. This free trade area and its harmonized legal regime would clarify the issue concerning the nature, since it’s still not clear in the current context where at least two conceptions exist—one considering the nature of the relations as one of cooperation and another perceiving the nature as one of aid or assistance.

 

Should you have any enquiries about the press release, please feel free to contact Ms. Albee Lei or Ms. Kristy Fok at（853）8397 4323 or prs.media@um.edu.mo or visit UM webpage www.umac.mo.