At a meeting between the state leader and Macao’s chief executive in December, President Xi Jinping acknowledged the good work carried out by the Special Administrative Region Government over the past year. He noted that Macao’s Chief Executive, Ho Iat Seng, would continue to have central authorities’ full support – and said he looked forward to new development achievements in the lead up to an important milestone: the 25th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland.
Xi’s comments came after Ho presented a report on Macao’s current situation and the local government’s efforts to the president in Beijing. Xi praised Ho’s government for diligently performing its duties and exercising governance in a pragmatic way.
“Under Ho’s leadership, the MSAR government has strengthened the management of the city’s gaming industry in accordance with the law and completed drawing up Macao’s first comprehensive official plan for its appropriate economic diversification drive,” Xi said.
The meeting with President Xi Jinping was also attended by Premier Li Qiang.
He also commended amendments Macao had made to its Law on Safeguarding National Security, as well as electoral laws. Its work promoting regional cooperation via Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin was praised, too. So were its efforts to engage internationally.
Xi congratulated Macao for successfully maintaining social harmony and stability during its post-pandemic economic recovery, while praising the speed of the latter.
During the meeting the president underlined how people across the nation are embarking on a new journey to promote the construction of a strong country and the great cause of national rejuvenation through Chinese-style modernisation.
He told Ho that the central authorities would continue to fully, accurately and unswervingly implement the principles of “One Country, Two Systems” and “patriots governing Macao”.
“The central authorities will continue to fully support Ho and the local government in uniting and leading people from all sectors of civil society in grasping the historic opportunities created by the nation’s development, continuously promoting the successful implementation of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle with Macao characteristics, and embracing next year’s 25th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland with new development achievements,” he said.
Ho Iat Seng stresses Xi’s important instructions
At the meeting, Macao’s Chief Executive told Xi that his important instructions were instrumental in Macao’s continuous development. Ho vowed that the Macao government would continue to: unite and lead all sectors of society; earnestly study and implement the spirit of President Xi’s important instructions; strive for greater achievements and firmly safeguard national security and social stability; and solidify the national security shield and proactively enhance its deployment, for in-depth defence of the country’s bottom-line core interests.
There would be further efforts to promote appropriate economic diversification in accordance with a recently published plan, while increasing efforts to attract talented people to the MSAR, maintaining confidence in achieving the goals of the first phase of the development plan for the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, while promoting development of Hengqin in a comprehensive manner.
Ho also said that the Macao government would continue to work together with all sectors of society, in order comprehensively, accurately, and unwaveringly to implement the principles of “One Country, Two Systems” and “Macao people governing Macao”, with a high degree of autonomy. They would firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security, and development interests; uphold the overall jurisdiction of the central government; fully implement the principle of “patriots administering Macao”, and better seize the historic opportunities brought by the country’s development.
Finally, the government would ensure high-quality celebrations of both the Macao Special Administrative Region’s 25th anniversary and the 75th anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, he assured Xi.
