Susana Chou Vaz da Luz (born 2 December 1941), also known as Chou Kei-jan and Cao Qizhen, is a

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 ...

politician who served as the President of the Legislative Assembly of Macau from 1999 to 2009.

Biography

Chou's ancestral hometown is the current Yinzhou District of the city of

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

in China's

Zhejiang Province Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...

. Chou was born in Shanghai on 2 December 1941, and is the oldest daughter of Chao Kuang Piu, who was an industrial tycoon in Shanghai. While her father moved in Hong Kong after 1949, Chou remained in China until 1968 when she moved to Macau. Chou studied physics and majored in radio technology at the

Anhui University Anhui University (), colloquially known in Chinese as An Da (安大, ''Āndà''), is located in Hefei, the capital city of Anhui Province, China. Founded in 1928 in Anqing, named 'National Anhui University' in 1946 and moved to Hefei in 1958, A ...

. Chou also studied French language and literature in Paris.

Politics

In 1976, Chou participated in Portuguese Macau's first direct election of the Legislative Assembly, and was successful in the election. From 1984 to 1999, she served in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth sessions of Portuguese Macau's Legislative Assembly. After the transfer of sovereignty of Macau from Portugal to China in 1999, Chou was elected as the President of new Legislative Assembly for its first, second and third sessions. Her stress on efficiency and effectiveness, while praised by the government, in many ways curtailed policy debate and discussion with little public consultation.

Election results

Honors and awards

* 1983, The Commander Degree of the Medal of Agriculture and Industrial Merit, by the President of the Portuguese Republic * 1994, The Medal of the Knight of National Order of Merit, by the President of the French Republic * 1994, The Medal of Industrial and Commercial Merit, by the Governor of Macau * 1999, The Medal of Bravery, by the Governor of Macau * 1999, The Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, by the President of the Portuguese Republic * 2002, The

Chevalier of the Legion of Honor The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

, by the President of the French Republic * 2003, 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 ...

, by the Chief Executive of Macau * 2007, The Officer of the Legion of Honor, by the President of the French Republic

Extra information

* ChinaVitae
CV of Susana Chou
(English) * MacauNews
Brief biography of Susana Chou
(English)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chou, Susana 1941 births Living people Macau businesspeople Politicians from Shanghai Members of the Legislative Assembly of Macau Macau women in politics Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Businesspeople from Shanghai Macau women in business 20th-century Macau people 21st-century Macau people Chou family Anhui University alumni