The Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng, met on Friday (14 August) in Beijing with officials representing the Central Government, to discuss how to advance the development of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone planned for the island of Hengqin.

On Friday morning, Mr Ho met with Vice Minister of Public Security and Head of the National Immigration Administration, Mr Xu Ganlu. They exchanged views on a number of issues, including Macao’s effort to promote the city’s economic diversification, policies on cross-boundary movement efficiency, and tackling cross-boundary criminality.

The Chief Executive briefed Mr Xu on how Macao was working with Guangdong to move ahead with the Intensive Cooperation Zone project in Hengqin. That included efforts to promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine as a way to support Macao’s economic diversification, in line with President Xi Jinping’s vision for Macao. 

Mr Ho said he looked forward for additional assistance from the National Immigration Administration, especially regarding policies to facilitate cross-boundary movement between Macao and Hengqin.

Speaking during the meeting, Mr Xu stated that the mainland and Macao had been working closely on implementing efficient migration policies and customs clearance models, and on combating cross-boundary crimes. These efforts laid the foundation for increasing people-to-people exchanges between the mainland and Macao.

Mr Xu noted that the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government demonstrated unwavering dedication to the implementation of the “One country, two systems” principle, the safeguard of national security, and boundary checkpoint security. He added the two sides would continue to foster cooperation in combating cross-boundary criminality, enhancing conditions for efficient boundary crossing, and strengthening information exchange mechanisms.

In a separate meeting, Mr Ho and the Minister of the General Administration of Customs, Mr Ni Yuefeng, shared insights on the development of the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone initiative. They also discussed Macao’s epidemic-control work.

Mr Ho pointed out that the Intensive Cooperation Zone was crucial to Macao’s future prospects, as the SAR currently faced a number of challenges related to its limited land resources and high cost of labour. Under the vision for the Intensive Cooperation Zone, Macao enterprises would be able to take advantage not only from the land resources available in Hengqin for development of their businesses, but also from favourable regulations for customs clearance of goods, under the regime known as “opening the first line and controlling the second line".

Mr Ni gave his support to the idea of using land resources in Hengqin for Macao enterprises to expand their businesses and develop new products. He also stated support to the separate management model implemented in Hengqin.

The Minister said Macao was a key part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area initiative. The latter was very important to the ‘dual circulation’ economic policies laid out by President Xi.

The General Administration of Customs would spare no effort in promoting policies beneficial to the advancement of Macao, contributing to the development of the Greater Bay Area initiative and to the implementation of the Intensive Cooperation Zone project, said Minister Ni. It would also continue supporting Macao’s effort on integrating into national development and fostering local economic diversification.

Mr Ni said additionally that people-to-people exchanges between the mainland and Macao were important to strengthen ties between the two sides. One of the various achievements in that field was the new Hengqin Port, set to open to the public on 18 August. The new facility is to implement a “Joint Inspection and One-Time Release” principle to customs clearance between Macao and Hengqin, allowing for a higher efficiency, he added.

In a third meeting, the Chief Executive and the Commissioner of the State Taxation Administration, Mr Wang Jun, talked about tax incentives and measures to support the development of the Intensive Cooperation Zone.

Mr Ho noted that the State Taxation Administration planned to introduce tax incentive measures regarding personal income tax and business income tax for the Intensive Cooperation Zone. These measures were another support for Macao and encouragement for young people from Macao to explore market opportunities on the mainland, he added.

The State Taxation Administration would further study the introduction of measures to create a favourable tax environment, including the formulation of additional tax incentives to support the development for the Intensive Cooperation Area. All these measures were designed to create a tax environment similar to that of Macao, he added.

The Secretary for Economy and Finance of the Macao SAR Government, Mr Lei Wai Nong, also attended the meeting. Mr Lei gave a briefing on the progress about an academy on taxation with a Portuguese faculty set up in Macao in December, under the framework of the “Belt and Road” initiative. Students enrolled to the academy however were not able to come to Macao to attend the course due to the pandemic, Mr Lei added. Looking ahead, the Macao SAR Government would recruit professionals to teach at the academy, ensuring sufficient availability of teaching materials, he added. 

Mr Wang said he would be looking forward to strengthening academic exchanges with Macao’s academy on taxation.