Sam Hou Fai seeks closer Guangdong cooperation to boost Macau-Hengqin integration

Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai said that, as this marks the first year of Beijing’s 15th Five-Year Plan and Macau’s third Five-Year Plan, Macau should also closely align with Guangdong’s 15th Five-Year Plan to guarantee high-quality development of the Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.

The Government Information Bureau (GCS) said the Chief Executive attended Guangdong Province’s 2026 Spring Banquet on Friday, where he pledged that the Macau government would study and implement the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s important speeches, proactively align with national development strategies, deepen Guangdong-Macau cooperation, and better serve the broader national development agenda.

Sam stressed the need to fully implement the 15th Five-Year Plan’s provisions on Guangdong-Macau cooperation and to ensure seamless integration of Macau’s third Five-Year Plan with Guangdong’s 15th Five-Year Plan, identifying the high-quality development of Hengqin’s In-depth Cooperation Zone as the “core priority” to be guided by the “Three Criteria” and “Three Standards.”

The “Three Criteria” and “Three Standards,” drawn from Xi’s important speeches, set out how the success of the cooperation zone should be judged.

They include whether the zone produces concrete measures and tangible results that diversify Macau’s economy and improve residents’ daily lives and employment; whether it yields new institutional achievements that leverage ‘One country, two systems’ and promote convergence of rules and mechanisms between the two regions; and whether it plays a pioneering role in advancing market integration of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area through closer Zhuhai-Macau integration.

Sam went on to say he expects all sectors in Guangdong and Macau to earnestly implement Xi’s instructions on Hengqin, and warned that greater Guangdong investment and the entry of high-quality Guangdong projects into the cooperation zone would inject fresh momentum into Macau-Hengqin integration and market convergence across the Greater Bay Area.

He pointed to a growing “two-way flow” between Guangdong and Macau, noting that visitors from Guangdong accounted for about 17.1 million of roughly 40.07 million arrivals last year – 42.7% of the total and a 30.4% year-over-year increase – while Macau-registered vehicles made 4.39 million crossings of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge, including 1.74 million trips in 2025, up 14.1% year over year.