Hotel occupancy at 44% in January
The average occupancy rate of guest rooms was 44%, a growth of 3.7 percentage points year-on-year. However, data from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) shows that the rate represented a month-on-month drop of 10.8 percentage points. This is because the number of overnight visitors dropped by 38.1% in January compared to December 2021 amid the tightening of border-control measures between Zhuhai and Macau. The number of hotel guests establishments in January rose by 14.2% year-on-year to 515,000, with mainland guests (418,000) and local guests (68,000) increasing by 10.8% and 40.5% respectively. In January, over 2,000 visitors joined local tours and a total of 7,000 Macau residents purchased outbound services through travel agencies.
Merchandise exports register slight growth
The total merchandise exports amounted to MOP1.43 billion in January 2022, up 0.3% year-on-year. Value of domestic exports (MOP199 million) rose 18.1%, with that of garments and copper and copper articles rising 37.3% and 42.0% respectively. Meanwhile, total merchandise imports rose 33.6% year-on-year to MOP14.07 billion. External merchandise trade totaled MOP15.50 billion in January 2022, up 29.7% compared to MOP11.96 billion a year earlier, while the merchandise trade deficit in January 2022 totaled MOP12.63 billion.
Mainland, Macau sign agreement on preservation measures in arbitration
The Supreme People’s Court (SPC) on recently signed an agreement with Macau on mutual assistance in preservation measures to aid arbitration proceedings: the fifth judicial assistance agreement between the two sides. The agreement was signed by He Rong, vice president of the SPC, and Cheong Weng Chon, Secretary for Administration and Justice of the Macau SAR government. The agreement defines the categories of preservation measures, the arbitration proceedings to which they apply, and the stages at which these measures may be applied for. He Rong said the agreement symbolizes a more optimized, improved and comprehensive judicial cooperation between the mainland and Macau in civil and commercial matters.
