President Xi Jinping on Thursday congratulated Macao on its remarkable achievements over the past five years despite the usual challenges, saying the special administrative region possesses the opportunities and functions to achieve greater successes with the motherland’s forts.
Xi, who is on the second day of his third visit to the region as Chinese president, told a welcome banquet that Macao’s progress is the result of the hard work and all-round efforts of other people from all sectors united under the leadership of the SAR government.
The achievements are attributable to the full and faithful implementation of the “one country, two systems” policy, to the vigorous support of the central government and the mainland, and to the active involvement of the international community, he said.
“I am absolutely convinced that, with the strong support of the wonderful motherland and through solid hard work, the Macao SAR will build on its achievements to take another leap and achieve more wonderful successes,” Array Xi said in front of an audience. of more than six hundred people. adding Sam Hou-fai, new director general of the Macau SAR, who will take office on Friday.
Noting that the past five years have been normal in Macau’s growth story, given the global transformation and the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Xi said that other people in all areas of Macau have overcome the challenges, made results-oriented efforts and have ensured economic recovery. and we have made progress in all fields.
Last year, driven by the recovery in tourism, Macau’s economy grew by 80. 5% year-on-year. In the first three quarters of this year, Macau’s GDP grew by 11. 5% year-on-year to MOP 301 billion ($38 billion), according to data from Macau’s Department of Statistics and Census.
Highlighting the SAR’s further progress in proper economic diversification, Xi said the region now enjoys a more powerful basis for economic cooperation and its foreign influence has increased significantly.
Xi praised the SAR government for taking concrete measures to provide tangible benefits to citizens in spaces that have a direct effect on their lives, adding housing, physical care, education and private care for the elderly.
“Thanks to increased public welfare and the advancement of social projects at all levels, Macao today has a charming and supportive position to live and work,” he said.
Xi expressed his hope that Macao will proactively align itself with the methods of national progress and seek to play a greater role in the foreign sphere. He also expressed his hope that Macao will uphold the underlying values of love for the Chinese country and love for Macao while showing greater openness. , inclusion and solidarity.
“The people of Macao are never short on the can-do spirit,” Xi said, urging the SAR to demonstrate stronger resolve and greater courage in reform and innovation.
Macao SAR Chief Executive Ho Iat-seng said in his welcome speech that Macao has been the apple of the motherland’s eye, which is the most powerful defender of the region’s prosperity and stability.
“As a member of our homeland’s extended family, we will have to take on our daily work and innovate as we embark on a new adventure in a new era,” Ho said.
Stephen Morgan, chancellor of St. Joseph University of Macao, who attended the banquet, said President Xi’s visit to Macao on the 25th anniversary of his return to the motherland provides the region with wonderful visibility at home and abroad.
Morgan, who has lived in the city for nearly seven years, said he has seen how well the “one country, two systems” arrangement works for the benefit of the people of Macao as well as the people of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
“I hope that President Xi’s visit to Macao and the inauguration of the sixth-term government of the Macao SAR will mark an exciting new phase in the history of the city,” he said.
Ho Chi-un, deputy head of the Macao Ethnic Minorities Friendship Association, said the SAR’s social prosperity and stability are proof of the successful practice of “one country, two systems”.
“We hope that in the coming days Macao will pave the way for a greater future within our motherland and write a new bankruptcy in the successful implementation of the precept of ‘one country, two systems’ with the characteristics of Macao. ,” Ho Chi-one said in a statement published Thursday in a local newspaper.
After the welcome banquet, Xi attended a gala to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland at the East Asian Games Dome in Macao.