On July 30, 2008, based on the approval of the State Council of China, Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Commerce Jiang Zengwei and Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government Francis Tam Pak Yuen signed CEPA V in Macao (hereinafter Supplementary Agreement V to CEPA in short), which will officially come into effect on January 1, 2009. Edmund Ho Hau Wah, Chief Executive of Macao SAR, Zhou Bo, Deputy Director of Hong Kong and Macao Office of the State Council and Gao Yan, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR attended the signature ceremony.
The Supplementary Agreement V to CEPA, on the basis of “arrangement” and other four supplementary agreements, further expands the opening-up to Macao. In terms of service trade, 27 specific measures are adopted in 18 inland fields. Among them, in 16 fields concerning accounting, building, medical treatment, information technology, personnel offer and arrangement, printing, exhibition, distribution, environment, bank, social service, tourism, maritime transport, air transport, highway transport and individual business, on the basis of former promise of opening-up, such measures as further simplifying procedures of approval, loosing conditions of access to markets, cancelling limitation of equity stake as well as broadening business scope and areas are taken, and simultaneously two fields consisting of service related to mining and consulting service in relation to science and technology are newly added. Moreover, both parties also added “band cooperation” as a new cooperation field in trade investment facilitation. The supplementary agreement consists of its implementation across the country, measures of a stronger opening-up force and measures adopted as the first trial run in Guangdong province to deepen cooperation between Guangdong and Macao, which will play an active role in promoting exchange and cooperation between Guangdong and Macao.
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