The central government’s top official on Macao affairs, Xia Baolong, starts a 6-day inspection tour of Macao today, according to a statement from the government. The trip will wind up on 13 May.
The director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China will be in the city to get an on-the-ground understanding on its latest social and economic developments, and to assess progress made by the SAR’s new government, the statement said.
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai was cited as sending his “warmest welcome” to Xia and thanking the central authorities for their “longstanding care and support for Macao”.
[See more: Central government gives backing to Sam Hou Fai’s Macao 2025 policy address]
Lau Siu-kai, a consultant to Beijing think-tank the Chinese Association of Hong Kong and Macau Studies, told the South China Morning Post that Xia’s main purpose in the SAR would be to determine whether it was living up to the “four hopes” expressed by President Xi Jinping when he visited Macao in December, for the 25th anniversary of its return to the motherland.
Xi’s hopes were, in brief, that Macao would advance its economic diversification; improve governance through administrative reform; strengthen its role in China’s opening up to the world; and maintain social stability.
Xia met with Macao officials in Hengqin in February, during a two-day trip focused on the island’s development. He last toured Macao a year ago, when he met with then-Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, senior officials and legislators, community leaders and local athletes.
