News

Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that new registration of motor vehicles decreased by 35.5% year-on-year to 1,208 in December 2016. For the whole year of 2016, new registration of motor vehicles dropped by 29.1% year-on-year to 13,935, with that of motorcycles (7,784) and light automobiles (5,395) falling by 23.8% and 38.6% respectively. As at the end of December 2016, total number of licensed motor vehicles reached 250,450, up slightly by 0.6% year-on-year; number of motorcycles (131,139) rose by 1.2% while that of light automobiles (111,545) edged down by 0.5%. There were 1,440 cases of traffic accidents in December and number of casualties totalled 458. In 2016, number of traffic accidents decreased by 2.9% year-on-year to 15,342 cases, resulting in 4,622 casualties and 9 of them were killed.
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For the implementation of Section 2b), Article 10, Law 4/95/M of 12 June, Consumer Council on 7 February collects prices of fresh pork from wet markets and supermarkets for consumers’ reference. The mentioned data collected during 1 February to 7 February are used for comparing the average selling price of the same products from Zhuhai. The relevant data has been uploaded to the Council’s website for consumers’ reference.The specific price surveys on fresh pork and vegetables are now available on the Council’s website (www.consumer.gov.mo), iPhone & Android ‘Supermarket Price Information Platform’ app, and the Council’s WeChat Account page. The relevant surveys include the average selling prices of local fresh pork and vegetables, and comparison on the respective the average selling prices rom Zhuhai and Macao.For enquiry, please call 8988 9315.
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Since the implementation of the ‘University of Macau Parking Management Rules’ last year, parking space abuse in the University of Macau (UM) car parks has improved significantly. The number of vehicles involved in parking space abuse dropped from 183 during the peak period to two now. With the assistance of the police force, UM’s Security and Transport Section successfully persuaded the owners of more than 100 such vehicles to vacate the parking spaces.UM opened its campus and part of its facilities to the public after it completed the relocation in 2014. Before July 2016, when the ‘University of Macau Parking Management Rules’ were implemented, the car parks on the campus were open, free of charge, to the university’s faculty, student, staff, alumni, and visitors. After implementation of the rules, the university started charging parking fees following the ‘user-pays’ principle.To ensure proper use of campus facilities, UM will continue to strengthen the management of its car parks and monitor the use of the facilities. It will also continue to step up night patrol and deal with parking space abuse. The university will consider taking legal actions against the violators when necessary.In addition, this year the university will continue to improve its parking facilities and parking system.
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In order to provide a better and more comprehensive bibliographic search service, the Macao Public Library, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, is launching a new catalogue search system from 6 February 2017. It allows readers to use the system easily for functions like book renewal and reservation as well as organization of personal reading list.The new library catalogue search system “Enterprise” will feature a number of new functions for the convenience of the users, with a more user-friendly design. The current search system, “E-Library”, only allows readers to have simple online renewal and reservation services, while the new system, based on the old catalogue system, offers an efficient and convenient process as it enables readers to have the same reservation service for books on shelf and requisition of books in a specific library. After logging to their accounts, the readers can check borrowed items through the library account, including the borrowing history and overdue fines, among others. The former includes the book titles, the author, the borrowing and returning dates, allowing readers to understand their reading preferences in different periods of time; the latter indicates the library fine records of the borrowing due date. Currently readers who forget their account password can only change the password at the library in person; the new “Enterprise” system allows users to reset their password online through the new function “Forgot Password” provided they have filled their email address in their library card application. Readers can also build their own reading list and save the book information that they wish to reserve as well as their search results as a record. In addition to the General Mode, an ADA Mode (Accessibility mode) is also available in the system which makes the service even more accessible, allowing residents who need to browse the website and use the library services on computers with reading software installed. For more information about the new catalogue system, please visit the Macao Public Library website (www.library.gov.mo) or call 2837 7117 during office hours.
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In order to provide a better and more comprehensive bibliographic search service, the Macao Public Library, under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, is launching a new catalogue search system from 6 February 2017. It allows readers to use the system easily for functions like book renewal and reservation as well as organization of personal reading list.
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The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR) was informed by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR that the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Djibouti has been confirmed by the Djibouti immigration authority at the airport that, holders of the Macao SAR Passport travelling to Djibouti can be granted a visa upon their arrival for a maximum stay of 30 days provided that they possess either an invitation letter, proof of hotel reservation or round-trip air ticket.At present, a total of 126 countries or territories have agreed to grant visa-free access or visa-on-arrival to Macao SAR Passport holders. For further details, please visit the website of the Identification Services Bureau (www.dsi.gov.mo/download/visa_free_list_e.pdf).
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The Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (Macao SAR) was informed by the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the Macao SAR that the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of Djibouti has been confirmed by the Djibouti immigration authority at the airport that, holders of the Macao SAR Passport travelling to Djibouti can be granted a visa upon their arrival for a maximum stay of 30 days provided that they possess either an invitation letter, proof of hotel reservation or round-trip air ticket.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the total number of personal credit cards in circulation continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2016. The credit card turnover and repayments increased from a quarter ago.CirculationThe total number of personal credit cards in circulation was 1,059,382 at the end of December 2016, equivalent to an increase of 2.7% over a quarter earlier. The numbers of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) cards and Renminbi (RMB) cards were 747,153, 91,571 and 220,658 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective growth of 2.3%, 4.5% and 3.4% quarter-to-quarter. On the back of the increasing dual-currency and triple-currency cards, MOP cards and HKD cards rose year-on-year by 12.2% and 13.0% respectively, while RMB cards rose even faster by 23.2%.Credit limit granted and delinquencyAs at end-December 2016, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao reached MOP25.3 billion, up 5.4% from end-September 2016. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP2.5 billion while the rollover amount totalled MOP740.5 million, accounting for 29.7% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, dropped from 1.51% at end-September 2016 to 1.21% at end-December 2016.Turnover and repaymentFor the fourth quarter of 2016, the credit card turnover grew 7.2% quarter-to-quarter to MOP5.0 billion. The cash advance turnover was MOP216.0 million, accounting for 4.3% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, grew 1.6% from the previous quarter to MOP4.9 billion.
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According to statistics released today by the Monetary Authority of Macao, the total number of personal credit cards in circulation continued to grow in the fourth quarter of 2016. The credit card turnover and repayments increased from a quarter ago.
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Spanning seven days from 27 January to 2 February, the Spring Festival Golden Week has come to an end. According to the preliminary statistics, Macao recorded over 930,000 visitor arrivals (excluding non-resident employees and students, etc.) during the period, up by 9.9 % over the corresponding period of last year.

During the Spring Festival, visitors from the Greater China markets went up by 10.8% year-on-year to a record of 880,000, which accounted for 94.4% of total visitor arrivals. Among them, 660,000 visitors came from Mainland China, accounting for 70.9% of total visitor arrivals, a 13.8% increase — the most among all markets of Greater China. The number of Hong Kong visitors reached nearly 200,000 with an increase of 5%, whereas Taiwanese visitor arrivals went down by 15.9% to a record of 20,000. On the other hand, international visitor arrivals decreased by 3% year-on-year to a total of 50,000.
Up to date, the supply of all hotels and guest houses has reached a total of 37,634 rooms in Macao. Industry figures reveal that hotel establishments (hotels and guest houses) in Macao registered an average occupancy rate of 94.5% during the golden week, a slight year-on-year increase of 0.4 percentage points.

Five-star hotels recorded an average occupancy rate of 95.5%, down by 0.7 percentage points; four-star hotels registered 92.8%, up by 0.2 percentage points; three-star hotels 96.2%, up by 4.8 percentage points; two-star hotels 83%, up by 4.3 percentage points; guest houses 75.9%, slightly up by 0.3 percentage points.

The average room rate of hotel establishments (hotels and guest houses) in Macao dropped by 3.1% to around 1,800 patacas during the golden week. For five-star hotels, the average room rate decreased by 3.6% to around 2,080 patacas; for four-star hotels, up by 2.4% to around 1,520 patacas; for three-star hotels, up by 0.4% to around 1,460 patacas; for two-star hotels, up by 14.4% to around 1,160 patacas; for guest houses, slightly up by 0.1% to around 770 patacas.

Before and during the Spring Festival, Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) actively prepared for the peak period by adopting different measures as follows: operation of tourism notification system, more scrupulous inspections, reminders sent to trade about various concerns, food guide publication and distribution as well as an array of celebrations rolled out during Chinese New Year, etc. The above measures were taken to cater to the needs of residents and visitors, as well as to optimize the tourism environment and service quality.

Room rates under different room categories reported by local hotels and guest houses are regularly posted on MGTO’s website for visitors to seize the latest information on hand. MGTO also advised visitors via WeChat to arrange their accommodation and itinerary in advance before their trips to Macao, and by mobile text message, suggested visitors to visit popular local attractions during off-peak hours in order to divert visitors from crowded areas. Personnel were arranged at ten different tourist spots to provide tourism information and guidance for visitors while assisting in crowd management.

MGTO and Tourism Administration of Guangdong Province put their “Tourism Notification System for Spring Festival Golden Week” into operationfrom 24 January to 3 February. The Office also collaborated with relevant departments and tourism reception entities to facilitate hospitality work for visitors during the Spring Festival Golden Week.

During the golden week, MGTO conducted 53 inspections at various ports of entry and tourist spots in Macao, and sealed two apartments allegedly operated as illegal accommodation.

MGTO’s Tourist Information counters and tourism hotline service both operated as usual during the holidays. MGTO’s tourism hotline 2833 3000 maintained its 24-hour operator service to attend to visitor enquiries.

During Chinese New Year, MGTO received a total of 27 visitor complaints regarding public transportation (taxi and bus), shopping, tour guide, hotel, dining, service quality and so on. MGTO has followed up with the cases or transferred them to relevant entities for settlement.
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