Xi highlights region stability during meeting with CE

Chui Sai On (left) met with Xi Jinping in Beijing

Chinese President Xi Jinping said that Beijing places great importance on Macau’s prosperity and stability, urging the region to grasp the opportunities of development and to promote “appropriate diversification” of its economy.
President Xi made the remarks while meeting with the chief executive Chui Sai On, who was in Beijing to report his work in 2015 to the central government.
“Although Macau’s economy has witnessed a consecutive slowdown due to various factors, society remains stable and it is facing new opportunities with a pressure-resistant economy,” Xi said on Wednesday.
The president called on the MSAR government to unite all of society and seize opportunities to boost “appropriate diversification” of the local economy, in order to improve people’s lives.
According to Xinhua, the local “government was told to be prepared for any eventuality, maintain political stability, improve the ability of governance and promote the implementation of ‘one country, two systems.’”
Stating that authorities in Macau have “worked hard on the region’s long-term prosperity and achieved new developments”, Xi said that the central government “fully endorses the work of Chui and the SAR government.”
Xi recalled that he attended celebrations marking the 15th anniversary of Macau’s reunification with the Mainland on December 19, 2014. During the visit, he promised to clarify the borders of the coastal areas governed by Macau. This promise was fulfilled this month by the enforcement of new administrative divisions which demarcated the maritime and land zones of the region.
According to the new map, an 85-square-kilometer sea area to the east and south of Macau will be locally administered. “Such a demarcation will play a positive role in boosting the region’s economic and social development,” Xi said during the meeting, which was also attended by Zhang Dejiang, the chairman of the Chinese parliament (National People’s Congress or NPC). In a separate meeting with Chui on Wednesday, Premier Li Keqiang pledged continued support to the SAR government. According to Xinhua, “Li expressed his appreciation of the MSAR’s efforts to vigorously adjust the region’s economic structure, to improve people’s quality of life, to manage to achieve a fiscal surplus and to promote the job market.”
He also called on the region to play the role as a platform for commercial cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. MDT/Xinhua