Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Macau on Wednesday to commemorate Beijing’s quarter-century of rule over the former Portuguese enclave, and is expected to encourage further diversification of the casino industry during his three-day visit.
Mr Xi’s visit to the world’s biggest gambling hub will be his third as head of state, during which he will attend the inauguration of the region’s new chief executive to be elected in October. Xi’s last visit was in 2019, when anti-government protests rocked neighboring financial hub Hong Kong.
Macau, a special administrative region of China, is the only place in the country where gambling is legal, and its economy relies heavily on the casino industry, which accounts for about 80 percent of local tax revenue.
Macau, located on China’s southern coast, returned to Chinese rule on December 20, 1999 and was governed under the same “one country, two systems” principle as Hong Kong.
In recent decades, Beijing has consistently praised the loyalty and stability of Macau, where more than half of its 700,000 people have immigrated from China.
In preparation for the 25th anniversary celebrations, Chinese national flags and red celebratory flags were flying along roads and above buildings in the city.
Since taking office in 2013, Mr. Xi has called for “proper diversification and sustainable development” of Macau’s economy, including casinos and cross-border capital flows, as part of a sweeping anti-corruption campaign. The move curbed gambling revenue from the high roller VIP segment.
On Thursday, Xi will attend a dinner and cultural performance at the Macau Dome along Macau’s Las Vegas-style Cotai district, the Macau city government said.
On Friday, he plans to attend a commemorative ceremony and the inauguration of Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai, 62, a native of southern China’s Guangdong province and fluent in Portuguese.
Sam, who has been Macau’s chief justice since 1999, is the first city leader born and raised in mainland China.
He was the only candidate given permission to run in the Macau election by a committee of 400 pro-China supporters. In December, Sam announced the team of officials who will govern Macau for the next five years.
Among them is the veteran economy minister, who is tasked with diversifying the economy and reducing dependence on gambling revenue generated by operators Wynn Macau, Sands China, SJM Holdings.HK, Galaxy Entertainment, Melco and MGM China. This includes Tai Kin Yip.
Mr Sam vowed to improve the lives of residents and develop non-gaming industries once he takes office on Friday.
He said Macau will also develop its role as a conduit between Chinese-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries and cooperation with other southern Chinese cities in the Greater Bay Area.
At the direction of the Chinese government, the Macau government last year launched its first economic blueprint, centered around a strategy with tourism and leisure as the main pillars.
