CEPA

Upon the signing of CEPA in 2003, the Mainland has progressively expanded coverage of services that are qualified for the preferential treatment as “Macao Service Suppliers” to the following 43 service sectors:

Legal	Job intermediary
Accounting	Cultural and recreational
Construction and real estate Professional services Construction and related engineering services Real estate services	Air transport
Medical and dental	Professionals qualification examinations
Advertising	Trade mark agency
Management consulting	Patent agency
Convention and exhibition	Computer and the related services
Telecommunications	Market research
Audiovisual	Services related to management consulting
Distribution	Public utility
Insurance	Building-cleaning
Banking	Photographic
Securities and futures	Printing
Tourism Hotels (including apartment buildings) and restaurants Travel agency and tour operator	Translation and interpretation
Transport (road and maritime transport) Maritime transport services Road transport services	Environmental
Freight forwarding agency	Social services
Storage and warehousing	Sporting
Logistics	Services incidental to mining
Information technology	Related scientific and technical consulting
Job referral agency	Research and Development Services
Technical testing, analysis and product testing	Specialty design
Individually owned stores

In compliance with the World Trade Organization (WTO) principles and rules, CEPA provides the Macao service suppliers with an earlier access to the Mainland market, ahead of the timetable China has committed to the WTO. In some sectors, such as audiovisual services, transport services and medical services, the concessions are actually more favourable than those of China’s WTO commitments. (Please visit here for the full legal texts of CEPA)

Definition of “Macao Service Supplier”(MSS) and the Examination Procedures
Generally speaking, natural persons and juridical persons can enjoy CEPA benefits provided that they fulfill the definition stipulated in Annex 5 to CEPA and the related requirements of its Supplements. A natural person refers to as a permanent resident of the Macao Special Administrative Region, whereas a juridical person means any company registered pursuant to the Macao Commercial Code, Macao Commercial Registration Code or other relevant laws, that has engaged in substantive business operations in Macao for 3 to 5 years (years of operation required vary by the service sector concerned).

Juridical person: should apply for a “Macao Service Supplier Certificate” from DSE before it can apply to the relevant Mainland authorities for providing services in the Mainland with preferential treatments under CEPA. The applicant should submit an application form, statutory declaration and all the necessary supporting documents to DSE’s CEPA Information Centre. (Please visit DSE’s CEPA website for detailed MSS application procedures and forms download）

Natural person: is not required to apply for a MSS certificate and should provide an identification document from Macao Identification Bureau to the Mainland authorities in order to enjoy CEPA preferential treatment.

Enquiries and Submission of Applications
For enquiries related to CEPA and submission of relevant applications, please contact CEPA Information Centre of Macao Economic Services:
Rua Dr. Pedro José Lobo, No. 1-3, 3/F, Macao
Tel: (853) 8597 2343
Fax: (853) 28755 011
E-mail: info@cepa.gov.mo