Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in Macau on Saturday for a international economic forum, but could be met by campaigners calling for the release of a jailed Nobel laureate, in a rare chance to press their case on Chinese soil.
Wen's two-day trip was expected to include meetings with senior ministers from seven Portuguese-speaking countries, including Portugal's premier Jose Socrates and officials from Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, and East Timor.
The Chinese premier will also meet senior officials from Macau, which has become the world's biggest gaming hub, outpacing Las Vegas. The former Portuguese colony is the only Chinese city where casino gambling is allowed.
Wen's trip — his first to Macau as premier — comes less than a week after Chinese President Hu Jintao wrapped up a visit to Portugal with pledges to support its battered economy.
But Hu held off committing to buy Portuguese debt, as Beijing had pledged for debt-battered Greece last month.
The Portuguese government said two of its major lenders signed deals with Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, to identify investment opportunities in the world's second-largest economy.
Reports in the Portuguese media also suggested that China — looking to boost its presence in Portuguese-speaking countries — was in talks about taking a stake in Portuguese lender Millenium BCP. The bank has a strong presence in Angola, one of China's chief oil suppliers.
A group of Hong Kong lawmakers have said they will rally in Macau during Wen's trip to call for the release of Nobel peace prize winner Liu Xiaobo.
"We will try to go to Macau this Saturday morning. Probably we will be refused entry but we will still make an attempt," Albert Ho, chairman of Hong Kong's Democratic Party, told AFP this week.
Lee Cheuk-yan, a unionist legislator, said he will head another delegation to submit a petition to Wen on Saturday but also conceded the group may also be turned away from entering the city.
Macau police have stepped up security ahead of the Chinese premier's arrival and said they have been notified that at least five local groups are planning to stage protests during his visit, according to local media.
Liu, 54, was jailed in December for 11 years on subversion charges after co-authoring Charter 08, a petition calling for sweeping political reform that has been circulated online and signed by thousands.
China has said the Nobel honour was tantamount to "encouraging crime" and warned European and other governments not to support the veteran activist.
Macau and Hong Kong were both handed back to China by their respective colonial powers in the 1990s and given separate constitutions that guarantee various freedoms not available on the mainland.
The third Ministerial Conference of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries wraps up Sunday.
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