The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, cordially shakes hands with the Mayor of Shanghai, Mr Gong Zheng, during a meeting at the Government Headquarters in Macao.
The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, today met with the Mayor of Shanghai, Mr Gong Zheng, to exchange views on key areas and on projects for a new round of practical cooperation between Shanghai and Macao that will jointly serve the national development strategy, and the socioeconomic development of both places.
The meeting was held at Government Headquarters. Afterwards, both leaders witnessed a signing ceremony for multiple cooperation agreements between Shanghai and Macao.
In welcoming Mr Gong and his delegation to Macao, Mr Sam had expressed gratitude to the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Shanghai Municipal Government, for their consistent emphasis on Shanghai-Macao collaboration and active support for Macao’s development.
Mr Sam noted that cooperation and exchanges between the two places have grown increasingly close in recent years, expanding across fields such as finance, technology innovation, culture and tourism, conventions and exhibitions, as well as youth affairs and education, representing a new pattern of deepening collaboration across all sectors.
Macao and Shanghai – as central cities in, respectively, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Yangtze River Delta city cluster – have long-maintained close ties that have strong collaborative foundations and immense potential, said Mr Sam.
Macao, leveraging its unique advantages of being “backed by the motherland and connected to the world,” serves as the commercialandtrade cooperationservice platform between ChinaandPortuguese-speaking countries, with extensive international networks and a favourable business environment.
Shanghai, as an international financial and technological innovation hub, boasts robust research capabilities, a comprehensive industrial chain, and global influence. Shanghai is advancing the development of its “Five Centres” strategy under the Central Government’s directives.
Macao is pressing ahead with the guiding principles from President Xi Jinping’s important speech during his inspection of Macao, striving to diversify its economy, accelerate the development of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, and actively participating in the high-quality development of the Greater Bay Area.
With strong Central Government support, the two cities are embracing greater development opportunities, said Mr Sam. He looked forward to Shanghai and Macao seizing these opportunities, complementing each other’s strengths, and achieving more from practical cooperation, in order to contribute to the nation’s development.
Macao officials attending the meeting included: the Secretary for Economy and Finance Mr Tai Kin Ip; the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ms O Lam; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Chan Kak; and the Director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau, Mr Cheong Chok Man.
Members of the Shanghai delegation attending the meeting included: Vice Mayor, Ms Xie Dong; Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government, Mr Ma Chunlei; Deputy Secretary-General of the Shanghai Municipal Government and Director of the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, Mr Zhou Yaming; and the Director of Shanghai Municipal Government’s Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Ms Ma Yinghui.
Also in attendance were: Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR), Mr Lyu Yuyin; Director of the Economic Affairs Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the MSAR, Mr Liu Decheng; and Deputy Director of the Third Bureau of the CPC Hong Kong and Macao Work Office and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council, Mr Wang Jinyu.
After the meeting, Shanghai and Macao signed: a memorandum on the new round of Shanghai-Macao cooperation; a memorandum on deepening financial cooperation between Shanghai and Macao; and a letter of intent on strengthening Shanghai and Macao cooperation in the convention and exhibition sector. Also signed were: a cooperation agreement on academic exchange between the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies and the University of Macau; a memorandum on science and technology innovation cooperation between Shanghai and Macao; and a cooperation memorandum between the CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee’s Department of Social Work and the MSAR Government’s Social Welfare Bureau. There was also signing of: a memorandum on enhancing educational exchanges and cooperation between the Shanghai Municipal Education Commission and the MSAR Government’s Education and Youth Development Bureau; a cooperation memorandum between the Shanghai Municipal Talent Work Bureau and the MSAR Government’s Talents Development Committee; and a cooperation agreement on summer research and practice between the University of Macau and the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.
