Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai met with Guo Wenhai, secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhongshan Municipal Committee and president of the Municipal People’s Congress Standing Committee, in Zhongshan yesterday morning, expressing the hope that the two regions will continue to work together on their existing solid foundation of cooperation to achieve even more fruitful outcomes, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) last night.
Sam was quoted by the statement as saying that Macau and Zhongshan share profound historical ties and maintain close, friendly relations.
In recent years, Zhongshan has experienced rapid development, with both its society and economy showing positive momentum, Sam said, adding that there is significant potential for cooperation between Macau and Zhongshan across multiple fields.
Sam, who was born in Zhongshan in 1962, also said he was looking forward to further deepening exchanges and collaboration for mutual benefit. He also encouraged enterprises from both places to seize opportunities and jointly expand their business operations.
Sam underlined, according to the statement, that the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) government will steadily advance existing cooperation projects between the two sides while continuing to support Macau businesses in exploring opportunities in the mainland, thereby enhancing collaboration in areas such as economic and trade relations, biomedicine, cultural tourism, high-tech industries, and higher education.
Sam, who has headed by MSAR government since December 20 last year, further pointed out that during yesterday morning’s working visit, he gained a deeper understanding of the strong development of Zhongshan’s biomedical industry.
Sam emphasised that the MSAR government is also actively encouraging and supporting the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in Macau. Therefore, he suggested that the two sides explore the possibility of jointly establishing a “Macau Formulas, Guangdong Production” collaborative demonstration base to promote integrated development in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries between Guangdong and Macau. Additionally, Sam said, Zhongshan has built an excellent platform for cultivating and retaining high-tech talent, while Macau boasts national-level laboratories and a high degree of openness to the outside world. The two regions could leverage each other’s strengths for mutual empowerment. In terms of cultural tourism, with the opening of the Shenzhen-Zhongshan Link, connectivity among cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area (GBA) has become even stronger, Sam pointed out. He expressed hope that these favourable factors will lead to new achievements in regional cultural and tourism cooperation.
Prior to the high-level meeting between senior officials from the two sides, Sam and his delegation visited the Zhongshan Institute of Drug Innovation under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), where they received a briefing on innovative drug research and development, as well as industry-academia-research integration. They also learnt about the current state of Zhongshan’s biomedical industry and its cooperation with Macau. Sam and his entourage, among them Secretary for Transport and Public Works Raymond Tam Vai Man, then inspected the Bay Area Future Sci-Tech City in Zhongshan, where he was briefed on Zhongshan’s efforts to promote regional synergy in the GBA by aligning with Shenzhen’s “Six Integration Measures.”
Sam and his delegation started their three-city GBA working trip in Zhuhai on Sunday. They visited Zhongshan and Jiangmen yesterday.
Zhongshan, which has a population of some 4.4 million, and Macau are members of the 11-city GBA conurbation. Zhongshan lies some 40 kilometres north of Macau.
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai (left) meets with Communist Party of China (CPC) Zhongshan Municipal Committee Secretary Guo Wenhai in Zhongshan yesterday. – Photo: GCS
