Chinese President Xi Jinping presided over the inauguration of Macau’s new leader on Friday and called on the territory to “diversify” its economy, to mark the 25th anniversary of the handover of the former Portuguese colony to China.
Since 1999, the former Portuguese trading post has been radically transformed to become the casino capital of the world and a popular destination for Chinese tourists and gamblers.
Under the leadership of Beijing, the Macau authorities are now seeking to encourage the development of financial services, new technologies and Chinese medicine as new drivers of development.
Chinese President Xi Jinping insisted during the inauguration ceremony on the need to diversify economic activity, specifying that Macao must “improve industrial development planning, strengthen supportive public policies and investments to develop new industries competitive on an international scale.
The territory is considered by the Chinese president as an exemplary model of his principle “One country, two systems”, in contrast with its neighbor Hong Kong, shaken by pro-democracy demonstrations until the imposition by Beijing of a law on national security in 2020.
Xi Jinping touted the successes of Macau, whose GDP per capita is among the highest in the world.
“Macao’s splendid achievements since its return to the motherland prove to the world that ‘One Country, Two Systems’ has a clear systemic advantage and strong vitality,” Xi Jinping said.
This framework “must be maintained in the long term,” he added.
– Loyal to Beijing –
A flag-raising ceremony and a military parade launched this day of celebrations in the territory, which now has a leader dubbed by Beijing.
Sam Hou-fai, former president of Macau’s Supreme Court since the 1999 handover, was the only candidate in the October election for the leadership post.
He won 99% of the votes of a committee of 400 members loyal to Beijing.
Aged 62 and from the neighboring city of Zhongshan, he is Macau’s fourth leader since the handover, and the only one to be born in mainland China – not Macau.
When the former Portuguese colony returned to Chinese sovereignty on December 20, 1999, two years after the neighboring territory of Hong Kong, Beijing promised that “the capitalist system and the city’s way of life would remain unchanged for 50 years.”
But several people in Macau associated with the pro-democracy movement, now not very influential, told AFP they had been ordered not to express criticism in public in the run-up to the commemorations.
– Casino addiction –
After 442 years of Portuguese sovereignty, Macau’s economy has experienced rapid development since 1999.
Since the start of the year, more than 29 million visitors have visited Macau, which is, according to statistics, China’s richest territory per capita.
Its economic diversification and its integration into the Greater Bay Area (which includes Macau, Hong Kong and part of the Chinese province of Guangdong) are at the heart of the three-day visit of the Chinese head of state.
The Chinese president also highlighted the importance of Hengqin Island, an adjacent territory three times larger than Macau, part of which was leased by Beijing to the city to increase its land space dedicated to new non-tax-related activities. gambling.
“The central government decided to develop Hengqin with the aim of promoting Macao’s economic diversification and facilitating the lives and employment of Macao residents,” Xi Jinping said.
“There cannot be development of industries or projects that are not aligned with this objective,” he added.
Macau’s GDP grew from $6.4 billion in 1999 to more than $47 billion last year.
But taxes linked to gambling still constituted 81% of the territory’s administration revenues in November.
