Introduction

In the Action Plan of the 5th Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (2017–2019), it was agreed that: “4.4 The Ministers reiterated their support for leveraging Macao’s comparative advantages in understanding the legal systems of China and Portuguese-speaking countries, including through its promotion as one of the venues for arbitration to resolve possible disputes arising from trade between entrepreneurs from the Participating Countries of the Macao Forum.” Portuguese-speaking jurisdictions hold a unique position in global geographic, sociological, economic, and political terms. They cover 7.2% of the Earth’s landmass (148,939,063 km²) and are spread across four continents: Europe, America, Africa, and Asia. Within this space, there are officially 258,466,109 inhabitants, and the combined GDP of these jurisdictions amounts to USD 2.7 trillion.