Xia Baolong, who heads both the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office (HKMWO) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO) of the State Council, met with Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak in Beijing on Friday, where Xia said that the central authorities have full confidence in Macau’s future development, according to a statement by Wong’s office that night.
The statement said that with the aim of thoroughly putting into practice the spirit of President Xi Jinping’s various important speeches and instructions made during his inspection visit to Macau and Hengqin in December 2024, advancing the MSAR’s public administration reform, improving its legal system, and promoting the Macau-Hengqin integrated development, Wong, who is also the executive deputy director of the management committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, led a delegation to Beijing to visit the central authorities’ relevant ministries and commissions to exchange views and listen to their guidance and opinions.
The statement did not mention for how many days the visit to the nation’s capital by Wong’s delegation, authorised by MSAR Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai, lasted.
The 106-square-kilometre Hengqin island in Zhuhai City is officially known as Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, following its inauguration in September 2021. The adjacent island is three times the size of the MSAR.
The in-depth cooperation zone’s governance consists of 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 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.
Currently, the zone’s management committee is jointly headed by Guangdong Governor Meng Fanli and Sam.
Wong is the management committee’s executive deputy director. The management committee has five deputy directors comprising officials from Guangdong and Macau.
During their working visit to Beijing, Wong and members of his delegation met with Xia on Friday morning, which was also attended by Nong Rong, a HKMWO-HKMAO deputy director, the statement said.
During the meeting, Wong briefed Xia on the progress of the MSAR government’s policy initiatives in his portfolio, Hengqin’s latest developments, and his visits to the various ministries and commissions.
According to the statement, Xia fully acknowledged the achievements made across various fields in the MSAR’s Secretariat for Administration and Justice portfolio and in Hengqin’s developments.
Xia said that the central authorities have full confidence in Macau’s future development, and will support the MSAR in safeguarding national security, promoting its appropriate economic diversification, deepening its public administration reform, and advancing the Macau-Hengqin integrated development.
According to the statement, Wong expressed his gratitude to Xia for his recognition and guidance. Wong pledged that, capitalising on the start of the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan and the MSAR’s 3rd Five-Year Plan, and under Sam’s leadership, he will vigorously promote the continuous improvements in the local government’s work in his portfolio, accelerate Hengqin’s ongoing second-phase development, and help Macau better integrate into and service the nation’s overall development.
During their working visit to Beijing, Wong and members of his delegation met separately with officials of the National Data Administration, the State Commission Office of Public Sectors Reform, the General Administration of Customs, the Ministry of Justice, the State Administration of Civil Service, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Office of the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, the National Immigration Administration, and the Legislative Affairs Commission and the Macao Basic Law Committee of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (NPC), according to the statement.
During the delegation’s visit to the General Administration of Customs, the statement said, Wong also witnessed the signing of the “Cooperation Agreement on the Inspection, Quarantine and Supervision of Food and Food Ingredients Transported from Macau to the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin”.
Wong is a former prosecutor, ex-director of the Macau Judiciary Police (PJ) and former secretary for security.
Xia Baolong (front, centre), director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office (HKMWO) of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office (HKMAO), HKMWO-HKMAO Deputy Director Nong Rong (front, third from right), and Macau Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak (front, third from left) pose for a group photo with other officials under Wong’s portfolio on the sidelines of Friday’s meeting in Beijing. – Photo: Wong’s office
