Late last year, Macao warmly welcomed President Xi Jinping to mark the 25th anniversary of its return to the motherland. The president and his wife, Peng Liyuan, embarked on an action-packed three-day visit to the SAR, arriving on 18 December to participate in a series of celebratory events and engagements – including the swearing in of Macao’s sixth-term government.
At the airport, the couple stepped out of their aircraft and onto a red carpet. Then-Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, his soon-to-be successor Sam Hou Fai, their wives, and hundreds of local residents were there to greet the president, who last set foot in the city five years earlier.
In a speech to the people of Macao, Xi described the SAR as “a pearl in the palm of the motherland”. He expressed his happiness to revisit the city and praised its impressive development since the handover. “Over the past 25 years, the practice of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle with Macao characteristics has achieved a world-recognised success, which has demonstrated vitality and a unique appeal,” he noted.
Xi also elaborated on the purpose of his visit, which he said went beyond celebrating the SAR’s anniversary “together with the Macao compatriots”. He said he wanted to inspect the city, engage in in-depth exchanges with residents from all walks of life, and discuss plans for Macao’s future development.
Reflecting on the past five years
One of several speeches Xi made in Macao highlighted the city’s “extraordinary” progress in implementing the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle over the past five years. It did so amidst unprecedented global transformation and a once-in-a-century pandemic, Xi noted. He congratulated Ho’s fifth-term government for uniting civil society, driving economic recovery and achieving progress across different sectors during a particularly challenging period in history.
The president pointed to patriotic developments such as Macao’s recently amended national security laws and its new school curriculum, which emphasises China’s history and constitution. The latter was designed to foster a stronger sense of national identity among Macao’s youth. He also noted that increases in government spending over the past half decade had enhanced the city’s housing, healthcare, education and elderly care facilities, thereby improving residents’ well-being.
Xi praised Macao’s increasingly active role in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, particularly with regards to the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, which was enabling the SAR to grow both in size and economically.
Macao’s growing influence on the international stage got a special mention, too. This was particularly apparent in the SAR’s strengthening ties with Portuguese-speaking countries through the likes of Forum Macao, a platform dedicated to Sino-Lusophone connections, Xi said. In addition, he highlighted Macao’s emerging role as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure, and as a base for cultural exchange. The city is a place where Chinese culture is the mainstream and diverse cultures coexist, he emphasised.
Xi’s vision for Macao
In Xi’s speech at a welcome banquet held on his first day in Macao, the president laid out three key expectations he had for the city’s development trajectory.
Firstly, he stated the need for Macao to more proactively align itself with national development strategies, such as the Greater Bay Area initiative, and further enhance its role on the international stage.
Secondly, Xi underscored the importance of diversity and inclusiveness. He encouraged Macao to uphold the values of love for the nation and love for Macao while aiming to attract talented individuals to collaboratively build a better future.
Finally, Xi urged Macao’s new government to move forward with determination. The president called for a stronger commitment to reform and innovation, leveraging the strengths of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle to explore new avenues for development.
A busy schedule
Xi’s time in the city was eventful. There was the 600-guest welcome banquet at the Macao East Asian Games Dome, hosted by Macao’s government, followed by a musical gala marking the region’s return to the motherland. The president visited Hengqin, a local university and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison stationed in Taipa, where he acknowledged the vital role these troops play in maintaining Macao’s long-term prosperity and stability. On the anniversary of the establishment of the Macao SAR, Xi’s final day in the city, he administered the oath of office to its sixth-term chief executive.
Xi met with many people while in the SAR, from former chief executives and the heads of major mainland-funded companies operating in Macao, to students from the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST).
The president visited MUST on his second day in the city and received in-depth briefings on the university’s two state-level key laboratories – one dedicated to developing high-quality traditional Chinese medicines and promoting them to the world, the other to lunar and planetary sciences.
Regarding the latter, Xi praised the Macao Science 1 space satellite as an example of deepening mainland-Macao cooperation in the high-tech sector. The satellite, jointly developed by scientists from both regions, was successfully launched in 2023.
Xi was able to observe its real-time operations on monitor screens while at MUST.
Later, in the university’s library, Xi engaged in conversations with students. “I am very happy to see that Macao’s education is thriving and you are full of vitality and confidence,” he told them.
A trip to Hengqin
That same day, he took a trip to the mainland island of Hengqin, where the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone is rapidly taking shape. While there, he hailed the cooperation zone as a boon to Macao’s economic diversification.
“Practice has proven that the central authorities’ decision to develop Hengqin and establish the cooperation zone is completely correct,” Xi said in a speech made that day.
The president met with Macao residents living in Hengqin as well as entrepreneurs from the SAR who had launched businesses there. He noted that Hengqin provides huge opportunities for Macao’s youth to achieve their ambitions, and expressed the hope that more young people from Macao would go on to build remarkable careers there.
Looking ahead, Xi said that improved connectivity between Hengqin and Macao, alongside further alignments in the two regions’ regulatory frameworks, would elevate their integration to a higher level. Efforts should focus on enhancing public services and social security systems to foster a high-quality living environment that facilitates living, working and entrepreneurship for Macao residents, he added.
Swearing in the sixth-term government
On the final day of Xi’s visit, the anniversary of Macao’s return to the motherland, the president administered the oath of office for the SAR’s sixth-term chief executive in a televised ceremony. Sam’s team of principal officials were innaugurated before Xi at the same event.
The president expressed confidence that Sam would lead both the SAR’s government and its people in comprehensively, accurately and unwaveringly implementing ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, under which Macao is administered by its own people with a high degree of autonomy.
Xi said he believed that Macao would firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests while vigorously promoting appropriate economic diversification and continuously improving public well-being.
He also voiced his conviction that Macao would leverage its unique position and advantages to better integrate itself into China’s national development while deepening its connections with other countries and regions around the world.
“The Central Government will fully support the chief executive and the Macao SAR government in fulfilling their duties,” Xi affirmed.
Macao is proof that ‘One Country, Two Systems’ works
On the day of the SAR’s anniversary, Xi again hailed the success of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle. He delved into the concept’s history, explaining how it was proposed by late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s as a means of reunifying the country. He also expanded on how the framework has helped promote peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between different social systems in both Macao and Hong Kong.
The values of peace, inclusiveness, openness and sharing that are inherent in the principle resonate with both China and the global community, Xi said.
He described Macao’s transformations since its return to the motherland as testament to the institutional strengths and vitality of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, highlighting the impressive economic growth, improvements to residents’ well-being and the expansion of external cooperation that Deng’s vision had facilitated. Xi noted that Macao residents currently enjoy a wider range of rights and freedoms than at any other time in history.
Regarding Macao’s unique characteristics, which are protected under the principle, Xi said that the city was “the only place in the world that has Portuguese and Chinese as its official languages”. He urged Macao to continue taking advantage of this special quality through fostering trade and cultural exchanges between China and the world’s Portuguese-speaking countries.
Macao has played a very important role throughout China’s history as “a window to the outside world … making the most of its unique advantage of being a mixture of different cultures,” said the president.
Xi also used the opportunity to call on Macao’s young people to not only embrace the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, but to build on it.
“Macao will surely open up new horizons for development and continue creating new glories, as long as the policy of ‘One Country, Two Systems’ is comprehensively, accurately and unwaveringly implemented,” the president said.
Xi’s words on his third and final day in the city echoed those from his first. “The rejuvenation of the nation is unstoppable, and the prospect of Macao’s development is promising,” he said. “As long as we give full play to the institutional advantages of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, and have the courage to work hard and innovate, Macao will certainly create a better tomorrow.”
President Xi and the Lilau Water
While in Macao, Xi made reference to one of the city’s most beloved landmarks: the Lilau Fountain. Located in one of Macao’s earliest residential areas, Penha, this natural spring has been a source of life-sustaining water for locals across many centuries.
The president recognised the fountain’s profound importance to Macao people. “Whoever supports ‘One Country, Two Systems’ and loves Macao as their home, has ‘taken water from the Lilau’ and a positive force contributing to Macao’s development,” he said.
Citing local lore, Xi also noted that anyone who drinks from the Lilau fountain will “sooner or later return to Macao”. As legend has it, this special water ensures its drinkers will never forget the city and – should they ever leave – will someday return to live or marry.
Xi’s words served as a clarion call for Macao-born professionals living abroad to return and contribute to their city’s success.
19 December 2024
