Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai and Vice-Foreign Minister Hua Chunying yesterday exchanged views on topics such as further strengthening Macau’s external connections and promoting the special administrative region’s appropriate economic diversification, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) last night.
According to the statement, the meeting was held at Government Headquarters.
During the meeting, Sam expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) for their support of Macau’s external relations, the statement said.
Sam briefed Hua on Macau’s social development, pointing out that its society is “prosperous, stable, peaceful and harmonious, serving as a successful model for the implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle.
Sam also pointed out that Macau has a rich historical and cultural heritages and serves as a platform for communication and cooperation between China and foreign countries. He also said, the statement underlined, that the local government will enhance and expand Macau’s external connections, particularly by exploring markets in Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries as well as in Southeast Asia, in order to promote Macau’s appropriate economic diversification.
Foreign Ministry Commissioner Liu Xianfa and Secretary for Administration and Justice José Cheong Weng Chon, among other senior officials, attended the meeting.
Hua is a former spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as a Director-General of the Department of Press, Communication and Public Diplomacy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She was Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs between October 2021 and May 2024, when she was promoted to Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Article 13 of the Macau Basic Law states that while the Central People’s Government is “responsible for the foreign affairs relating to the Macau Special Administrative Region”, it may authorise the MSAR “to conduct relevant external affairs, on its own, in accordance with” the Basic Law.
Meanwhile, Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel is slated to start a four-day official visit to China tomorrow, including visits to the nation’s special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong.
Visiting Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Hua Chunying (left) and Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai pose during a meeting at Government House yesterday. – Photo: GCS
