Ma Man-kei (; October 1919 – May 26, 2014) was a Chinese- Macanese businessman, tycoon, entrepreneur and politician. A strong supporter of the

Chinese Communist Party The Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

, Ma was a proponent of the

transfer of sovereignty over Macau The transfer of sovereignty of Macau (; pt, Transferência da soberania de Macau) from Portugal to the People's Republic of China (PRC) occurred on 20 December 1999. Macau was settled by Portuguese merchants in 1557, during the Ming dynasty ...

from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

to the People's Republic of China, which took place in 1999. Ma was Vice Chairman of the

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

's ( CPPCC) eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh sessions, beginning in 1993. Ma was born in 1919 in Nanhai County,

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

. He moved to Hong Kong and opened his first business during the late 1930s. He later to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

in the 1940s and expanded his business. He aided the

during the 1950s by importing commodities from Macau and Hong Kong to

mainland China "Mainland China" is a geopolitical term defined as the territory governed by the People's Republic of China (including islands like Hainan or Chongming), excluding dependent territories of the PRC, and other territories within Greater China. ...

. Ma served as the Vice Chairman of the committee which drafted the basic laws for the Macau Special Administrative Region and had a hand in the territory's transfer. He was also President of the Macau Chamber of Commerce for life. Ma was a former member of the Legislative Assembly of Macau. Ma was also the chairman of the Chinese Literature Foundation.

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

penned the title for one of Ma Man-kei's poems in 1998. In 2001, Ma was one of the first recipients of the

Grand Lotus Medal of Honour The Grand Lotus Medal of Honour ( pt, Medalhas de honra de Grande Lótus; ) is the highest award under the MSAR honors and awards system which recognizes lifelong and highly significant contributions to the well-being of Macau. List of recipien ...

. Ma died at a Beijing hospital on May 26, 2014, at the age of 95, where he had been hospitalized with heart disease for several years. His funeral was held at the Macau Forum. Minor planet 228158 Mamankei is named in his honor.

References

1919 births 2014 deaths Members of the Legislative Assembly of Macau Macau businesspeople Macau politicians People's Republic of China politicians from Guangdong Politicians from Foshan Businesspeople from Guangdong Vice Chairpersons of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Chinese emigrants to British Hong Kong {{Macau-bio-stub