Development of Macao shows vitality of "one country, two systems": Chief Executive

BEIJING, Dec.14 (Xinhua) -- The development of Macao since itsreturn to the motherland demonstrated the strong vitality of the "one country, two systems" concept, said Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) in a special press interview.

The concept was proposed by then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in the early 1980s for the reunification of China. Under the mechanism, Macao retained its capitalist systems after returning to the motherland on Dec. 20, 1999.

The per capita GDP of Macao residents in 2008 reached 39,000U.S. dollars, almost three times the average before its return, according to World Bank figures.

The central government adopted a series of measures to support Macao's development.

In two meetings with Edmund Ho Hau-wah in December 2008,President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao said the central government would fully support Macao in dealing with the challenges brought about by the global financial crisis. At the end of last year, the central government launched nine measures covering finance, infrastructure, regional cooperation, funding Macao's small-and-medium-sized enterprises, ensuring Macao's food supply, to help Macao tide over the economic downturn and promote integration of the Pearl River Delta region, which includes Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macao.

Macao's water supply is at risk of salinization due to drought upriver. The central government and Macao's neighboring province shave adopted relief measures, including the construction of hydroelectric projects to ensure the long-term supply of drinking water to Macao.

Government statistics show more than 33 million mainland tourists have visited Macao since 2004 and have generated an estimated revenue of more than 100 billion patacas (12.66 billion U.S. dollars) -- gambling revenue excluded.

Under the support of the central government, Macao's land area has increased from 22 square kilometers before its return to about30 square kilometers.

In June, the ninth session of the Standing Committee of China's11th National People's Congress (NPC) passed a bill giving the Macao SAR jurisdiction over a new campus of the University of Macao on Hengqin Island, which was originally part of the southern mainland city of Zhuhai.

In 2007, Macao implemented a 15-year free education system, which will run from kindergarten to senior high school. "From my own experience, for the past 10 years, the central government has been strictly adhering to the principle of 'one country, two systems' and the Basic Law of the Macao SAR. The central government has not interfered the inner affairs of the SAR," said Edmund Ho Hau Wah.

After its return to the motherland, Macao successfully held Ministerial Conferences of the Forum on Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-Speaking Countries in2003 and 2006 and the East Asian Games in 2005.

With the support of the central government, the historic center of Macao, which is home to more than 20 unique sites demonstrating the assimilation and co-existence of Chinese and Western cultures, has been inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. "Since the founding of the Legislative Assembly of Macao Special Administrative Region, Macao has enjoyed complete legislative power and has enacted and amended more than 100 laws, which was quite unimaginable when it was ruled by the Portuguese," said assembly president Lau Cheok Va.

An election committee, responsible for electing the chief executive of Macao SAR, is composed of representatives from a wide range of sectors including industrialists, unionists, public service workers, religious figures and politicians. Dr. Leonel Alberto Alves, a legislator and "Macaense", said an estimated 20,000 "Macaense" lived in Macao and their rights were fully safeguarded and customs respected since Macao's return to the motherland.

"Macaense" is a Portuguese expression for Macao-born Portugueseor Macao-born person of Portuguese and Chinese or of Portuguese and another Asian ethnic group.