[3] His mother tongue is Portuguese, and as he was born in Macau, he learned to speak Cantonese in his teenage years and English while studying in high school and university.

Along with Leonel Alves (indirectly elected by the functional constituency of professional interests) he is one of only two deputies in the Legislative Assembly who can speak Portuguese fluently.

His frontal, direct and fearless approach in any issue has earned him many supporters and respect among the citizens of Macau who are traditionally conservative and distant from social and political affairs.

This bill which was proposed by Coutinho would give animals basic rights since there is no regulation of what happens to the horses and greyhounds, which are also victims of the gaming industry.

[12] Coutinho successfully led a massive protest in May 2014 in the streets of Macau against a proposal that his fellow deputies attempted to approve which basically consists of giving criminal immunity to government officials during and after their contracts end.

[citation needed] In September 2015, José Pereira Coutinho became acquainted in the Dore Holdings case as he received 53 complaints from individuals that requested his help.

[citation needed] As he was a popular figure in Macau and was known in the Portuguese communities around the world, Coutinho was seen as having a good chance of being elected as deputy for the "Outside Europe" constituency, according to Professor Mendo Henriques, leader of Nós, Cidadãos!

[17] On 25 September 2015, Professor Mendo Henriques announced that the political party was considering mounting a legal challenge to the elections for the "Outside Europe" constituency because of serious irregularities were found in the distribution of ballot papers among the Portuguese living overseas.