Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Wallis O Lam vowed during her working visit to Beijing on Friday to study in-depth and implement thoroughly President Xi Jinping’s important speeches and carry out the mission that he entrusted Macau with concerning local and national development, and she also pledged to keep the local government’s people-centred philosophy of development as her main focus when preparing her portfolio’s policy action guidelines.
O made the remarks during her meeting with Xia Baolong, who heads both the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO), as well as Zhou Ji, executive deputy director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office who’s in charge of day-to-day operations.
According to a statement by O’s office on Friday, the delegation’s visit, which also included Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture Chief-of-Cabinet Lin Yuan, Health Bureau (SSM) Director Alvis Lo Iek Long and Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) President Deland Leong Wai Man, aimed to fully implement the spirit of Xi’s important speeches during his visit to Macau on December 18-20 last year, and to promote the better development of Macau’s healthcare and medical services as well as its cultural and sports sectors.
The statement noted that the meeting mainly focused on the work carried out in the social and cultural domains in line with the spirit of Xi’s important speeches and the mission entrusted by him to Macau, as well as the portfolio policy secretary’s preparations of the next government action guidelines and the main tasks of their next phase, adhering to Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai’s philosophy of administration aiming for “Endeavour, Solidarity, Persistence, Innovation”, and the people-centred philosophy of development.
The statement said that the delegation also visited the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC), National Health Commission (NHC), National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), China Media Group (CMG), and the General Administration of Sport of China (GAS), during which numerous consensuses were reached through a working meeting on the operation and development of the Macao Union Hospital in Cotai, cooperation in medical and healthcare between Macau and the mainland, the preservation of cultural heritage, cultural communication and promotion, and the upcoming National Games.
“The leaders of the ministries and commissions, and of the relevant organisations indicated that they would seriously implement the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s important speeches and closely follow the president’s ‘four expectations’ to support the stable development of Macau’s various sectors,” the statement noted.
The four expectations are enhancing appropriate economic diversification; raising governance capability; building a higher-level platform for external exchanges; and safeguarding social harmony.
This handout photo provided by the Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture on Friday shows the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) Director Xia Baolong (right) meeting with Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Wallis O Lam in Beijing.
