The Republic of Equatorial Guinea (EG) joined the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation
between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macao) in 2022, becoming the
tenth member-state. This occurred during the 2022 Extraordinary Ministerial Conference,
after it acceded to the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) in 2014. Since
2015, China and EG have been intensifying their bilateral cooperation after establishing a
comprehensive cooperative partnership (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of
China, 2015). In 2019, the two countries signed a Belt and Road Initiative (B&RI) MoU during
the second Belt and Road Forum in Beijing, and initiated a strategic approach for bilateral
cooperation. Consequently, considering the uniqueness of EG as a Portuguese-speaking
Country (PSC) and as the newest member of Forum Macao, this paper poses and answers the
following research question: What will be the impact of Sino-Equatoguinean cooperation in
light of EG’s recent accession to FM? Methodologically, the research uses qualitative data
supported by triangular referencing, including official and non-official sources, namely official
statistics, academic papers, and media reports, to look into the bilateral Sino-Equatoguinean
relations under the B&RI Lusophone framework, as well as the fact that EG is a CPLP member-
state. Accordingly, the methodologic rationale focuses on the uniqueness of EG as one of the
Lusophone countries and relates it to the Chinese B&RI at three levels: domestic, regional
and global. This paper is organized as follows: (1) Introduction; (2) The uniqueness of EG as
a PSC; (3) The B&RI and the Lusophone Countries; (4) Cooperation between Equatorial
Guinea and China; (5) Conclusion – The Future of Sino-Equatoguinean Cooperation.
GAME CHANGE IN THE GULF OF GUINEA: THREE INTERTWINED PERSPECTIVES ON SINO-EQUATOGUINEAN COOPERATION
Ph.D. candidate at the Institute for Research on Portuguese-speaking Countries, City University
of Macau (China). He has received a master’s degree in Chinese-Portuguese Interpreting from
the Macau Polytechnic University and a Bachelor of Portuguese language and literature from
Beijing Foreign Studies University. He is currently working as a Chinese-Portuguese translator
and interpreter in the Supporting Office of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation
between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Forum Macao). Previously, between 2012
and 2018, he worked as a Foreign Affairs manager and Portuguese language translator in the
Department of International Cooperation of the China Petrochemical Corporation (SINOPEC)
headquarters (Beijing). His current main area of interest and research is the Portuguese-speaking
countries
Ph.D. in political science and international relations from the Catholic University of Portugal in
2010. From 2016 to 2017, he took part in a post-doctoral research programme on state
monopolies in China — One belt, one road studies. In 2014, 2017 and 2020, he was awarded the
Institute of European Studies in Macau (IEEM) Academic Research Grant, which is a major
component of the Asia-Europe Comparative Studies Research Project. From 2014 to 2018, he
was the Programme Coordinator at the Institute of Social and Legal Studies, Faculty of
Humanities at the University of Saint Joseph in Macau, China. From 2018 to 2023 he was the
Associate-Dean of the Institute for Research on Portuguese-Speaking Countries at the City
University of Macau. He is currently Associate Professor with Habilitation in International
Relations at Faculty of Social Sciences at University of Macau (China). His most recent books
are: Steps of Greatness: The Geopolitics of OBOR (2018), University of Macau; The Challenges,
Development and Promise of Timor-Leste (2019), City University of Macau; The Belt and Road
Initiative: An Old Archetype of a New Development Model (2020), Palgrave Macmillan;
Geopolitics of Iran (2021), Palgrave Macmillan; The Handbook of Special Economic Zones (2021),
IGI Global; Disentangled Visions on Higher Education: Preparing the Generation Next (2023),
Peter Lang Publishers; and The Palgrave Handbook of Globalization with Chinese Characteristics
(2023), Palgrave Macmillan. Leandro is a member of OBSERVARE (Observatory of Foreign
Relations), which was established in 1996 as a center for studies in International Relations at the
Autonomous University of Lisbon, Portugal
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Como citar este artigo
Ma, Yu; Leandro, Francisco José (2023). Game Change in the Gulf of Guinea: three intertwined
perspectives on sino-equatoguinean cooperation, Janus.net, e-journal of international relations,
Vol14 N1, May-October 2023. Consulted [online] in date of last visit,
https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.14.1.10
Article received on 6 February, 2023 and accepted for publication on 4 April, 2023
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