Macau Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai travelled to the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin on Friday to convene a meeting about advancing Hengqin’s high-quality development by putting the spirit of this year’s “two sessions” into practice, where he urged officials of the zone’s executive committee and those from the public entities administered under the committee to transform development opportunities available for Hengqin into concrete measures advancing its development, by adopting more innovative thinking and pragmatic approaches and complying with the nation’s overall development strategy and the real situations of Macau and Hengqin, according to a statement by the Macau Government Information Bureau (GCS) that day.
The nation’s two sessions refer to the annual sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC) and the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).
The adjacent 106-km2 Hengqin island in Zhuhai City is officially known as Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, after the zone was inaugurated in September 2021. The Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) covers a land area of 33.4 km2.
The in-depth cooperation zone’s governance comprises a management committee and an executive committee.
The management committee is the zone’s top decision-making body run under a dual director system, jointly led by the governor of Guangdong Province and the chief executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR). The zone’s executive committee, which is run under the management committee, is the body tasked with the zone’s daily functioning and execution of tasks.
There are nine bureaux administered under the zone’s executive committee.
Sam, one of the zone’s management committee two directors, chaired Friday’s meeting, which was also attended by Macau Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak, who is the committee’s executive deputy director, Macau Secretary for Economy and Finance Anton Tai Kin Ip, who heads the zone’s executive committee, as well as several deputy directors of the executive committee and officials from various bureaus under the executive committee.
During the meeting, according to the GCS statement, Sam noted that the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which was passed by the NPC in Beijing earlier this month, outlines the country’s important plans and deployments for Macau’s better integration into the nation’s overall development, the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), and Hengqin’s development.
The plan, officially known as 15th Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development, covers the period between 2026 and 2030.
Sam noted that the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan also outlines the country’s policy to deepen Macau-Hengqin integrated development.
Sam underlined that this year is a crucial year for the in-depth cooperation zone’s second-phase development, as well as a year when the MSAR government is scheduled to complete the drawing-up of Macau’s third Five-Year Plan and start implementing the plan, adding that one of the important policies to be outlined by the plan is to advance Hengqin’s development with stronger integration with Macau.
During the meeting, according to the statement, Sam raised three views and requirements for Hengqin’s development.
Sam raises 3 views & requirements
First, Sam fully acknowledged the achievements made over the past year for Hengqin’s development. He said that over the past year, his government has further strengthened internal coordination and resource input for its work advancing Hengqin’s development, pledging that in the future Macau will continue to enhance its support for Hengqin.
Second, Sam urged the executive committee to pay close attention to its existing shortcomings in its ongoing work to promote Hengqin’s development and make the necessary improvements, suggesting that improvements should be made in four aspects, namely fully demonstrating the professionalism of Hengqin’s officials and other staff; strengthening research and fact-finding tours; promptly understanding the genuine needs of enterprises and residents and then implementing targeted measures; and maintaining integrity in governance.
Third, Sam highlighted the importance of putting into practice the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s various important speeches and instructions concerning Hengqin’s development.
Sam underlined that every instruction from Xi provides clear guidance for the development of Hengqin and Macau, urging officials to repeatedly study Xi’s instructions, with the aim of gaining a deep understanding of them and transforming them into concrete measures promoting Hengqin’s development.
According to the statement, Sam also visited a number of facilities in Hengqin on Friday, including the Service Centre for Economy and Trade between China and Portuguese/Spanish-speaking Countries.
Macau Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai addresses Friday’s meeting held at a government service centre in Hengqin. – Photo: GCS
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai talks with a staff member of the Service Centre for Economy and Trade between China and Portuguese/Spanish-speaking Countries in Hengqin while visiting there on Friday. – Photo: GCS
