The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, had on Thursday (13 August) meetings in Beijing with officials from, respectively, the People's Bank of China and the Minister of Water Resources, in order to promote closer mainland-Macao ties and to exchange views on a number of issues of mutual concern.

Mr Ho is on a six-day visit to Beijing. He met on Thursday morning with the Governor of the People's Bank of China, Mr Yi Gang; and the Administrator of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Mr Pan Gongsheng.

During the meeting, Mr Ho said he looked forward for the People’s Bank of China to introduce additional favourable policies allowing new forms of cooperation between Guangdong and Macao regarding the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone planned for the island of Hengqin. He said the Intensive Cooperation Zone was a pilot project for Macao to strengthen its role in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. These efforts sought to complement Macao’s overall strategy to push for greater diversification of the city’s economic structure, he added.

Mr Yi said the People’s Bank of China would study in detail how to support the development of Hengqin under the vision for the island laid by President Xi Jinping. Mr Yi added he was looking forward for closer mutual cooperation in order to support Macao’s advancement and inject fresh dynamism into the city’s development.

In addition, Mr Ho briefed Mr Yi on Macao’s effort and accumulated experience – since January – in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. He also presented a number of subsidy programmes introduced by the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government to assist the public in overcoming the challenges posed by the pandemic.

The resumption of a facilitated individual travel scheme for mainland tourists to visit Macao would help support the city’s economic recovery in the wake of the health crisis, Mr Ho said.

In the afternoon, Mr Ho met with the Minister of Water Resources, Mr E Jingping, to exchange views on safety of water supplied by the mainland to Macao, and the construction of supporting facilities, in order to ensure such supply.

Mr Ho noted the Central Government had over the years given its strong support to assist Macao in overcoming water supply shortages, namely during salt tide periods. He added that ensuring water supply from the mainland to Macao was a challenging task, thus the Macao SAR Government would step up efforts to raise awareness locally related to water conservation. In that regard, planning was underway to make available reclaimed water systems in the new urban reclamation areas.

During the meeting, the two officials also discussed issues related to the construction of sluices at Macao’s Inner Harbour area and flooding in Macao’s low-lying areas.

Mr E noted that the Chief Executive was paying close attention to safety of water supplied to Macao, and to other relevant developments within the Pearl River region. This illustrated Mr Ho’s dedication to Macao’s overall socio-economic development, he said. The two sides would continue to work together in order to elevate cooperation to new levels, Mr E added.