Macau Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng met yesterday with senior Guangzhou city officials to exchange views on COVID-19-prevention and -control work, as well as closer cooperation on financial, education and medical services, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) today.
Ho's meeting took place in Guangdong's capital city prior to the opening of the 130th China Import and Export Fair, known as Canton Fair, which is co-hosted by the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) and the provincial government Guangdong. The fair is organised by the China Foreign Trade Centre.
During the fair's opening ceremony yesterday, Premier Li Keqiang delivered a keynote speech. Ho attended the ceremony.
While in Guangzhou, Ho met with Zhang Shuofu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Guangdong Provincial Committee and secretary of the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee, and Wen Guohui, deputy secretary of the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and mayor of Guangzhou.
Guangzhou has a population of over 13 million.
Ho thanked the officials for Guangzhou's long-term support for Macau's development. He pointed out that Guangzhou is an important gateway for the whole country and a transport hub, adding that Macau and Guangzhou enjoy huge potential for cooperation.
According to the statement, Ho underlined that Macau has stepped up efforts to seize unprecedented opportunities made available by the recently established Guangdong-Macau In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and also to accelerate Macau's adequate economic diversification. The chief executive said that Macau was looking forward to working even more closely with Guangzhou, in order to serve the country's strategic needs, while strengthening innovation in cooperative mechanisms, in order to extend ties in science and technological innovation, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), social welfare, and high-level opening up.
Officials from the two sides also discussed establishing a mechanism for regular meetings, in order to press ahead with closer and pragmatic cooperation, the statement said.
