The Chinese leader emphasised that Macau is ‘the only place in the world with Portuguese and Chinese as official languages’ and argued that the city must take advantage of ‘its uniqueness’.
China’s leader, Xi Jinping, told Macau’s new government, which took office this Friday, that the semi-autonomous region must ‘continue to co-operate in all aspects with Portuguese-speaking countries’.
In a speech, Xi emphasised that Macau is ‘the only place in the world with Portuguese and Chinese as official languages “ and argued that the city must take advantage of ”its uniqueness’ to play ‘the role of platform between China’ and Portuguese-speaking countries.
The territory has ‘played a very important role throughout the history’ of China, as ‘a window to the outside world’, ‘taking advantage of its unique advantage of being a mixture of different cultures’, said the Chinese leader.
But Xi emphasised that Macau needs ‘a more tolerant, more open attitude, to establish more cooperative ties with the outside world’ in order to ‘project the image’ of the region abroad and have ‘its place on the international stage’.
The Chinese leader defended the need to ‘optimise the business environment “ and ”renew the laws that have to do with trade’ in order to ‘attract more international resources and investors’.
Macau’s parliament is currently discussing a bill to encourage the creation of investment funds that can attract investors from abroad, including from Portuguese-speaking countries.
In his speech, Xi Jinping called on Macau to ‘broaden its network of friends’, ‘continue to be open to the outside world’ and ‘foster exchanges between Chinese and foreigners’.
The Chinese leader gave as an example the One Belt, One Road initiative, the huge strategic international infrastructure programme launched by Xi in 2013.
According to the head of state, Macau needs to ‘reform’ in order to diversify its economy, which is highly dependent on tourism and casinos.
In the first nine months of the year, tourism services accounted for 79.7 per cent of the city’s economy.
Xi Jinping recalled that ‘the Central Government has decided to develop Hengqin [the neighbouring island of Montanha] with the aim of diversifying Macau’s economy and making life and employment easier for Macau’s citizens’.
The Chinese leader warned that the commitment to the Guangdong-Macao Deepened Co-operation Zone ‘must continue “ and that ”industries cannot be developed outside this initiative’.
Xi also argued that Macau should ‘proactively participate in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area’.
The Greater Bay Area is Beijing’s project to create a global metropolis comprising Hong Kong, Macau and nine cities in Guangdong province, with 86 million inhabitants and an economy worth more than one trillion euros by 2023.
Xi Jinping was speaking after the inauguration of the territory’s new chief executive, Sam Hou Fai, on the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macau Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
Lusa
