Chinese leader Xi Jinping is set to arrive in Macao to join the city for its 20th anniversary celebration of returning to its motherland on Wednesday.
Xi is expected to attend the anniversary ceremony on December 20 and the inauguration of the five-year administration of the Special Administrative Region of Macau.
The Chinese President is also the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and Chairman of the Central Military Commission,
Over the years, the country's communist party central body, together with Comrade Xi Jinping, has consistently promoted the policies of "one nation, two systems," "the citizens of Macao Governing Macao" and a high level of autonomy for the region.
Growing, Growing
The President has also strongly supported the exercise of law-based governance by the Macao SAR Chief Executive and State, as well as the integration of Macao's economic growth.
Guided by this principle, Macao has shown to the world the great success of its "one country, two systems" with its own unique attributes.
Nonetheless, a city with only about 30 square kilometers of land and a population of 670,000, Macao receives tremendous attention from central authorities.
Not long after being elected CPC Central Committee General Secretary, Xi met with Macao SAR Chief Executive Chui Sai On in Beijing in December 2012 and expressed complete confidence in Macao's prospects for development.
Global Leisure Hub
Xi has given Macau policy directions on many occasions: nurturing new growth drivers, promoting adequately diversified and sustainable economic development, prioritizing economic growth and improving the people's living conditions.
Meeting Chui who visited Beijing on a work trip in December 2015, Xi said the central authorities attach great importance to the development and stability of Macao.
Macao is being geared to become a global tourist and leisure hub as well as a center for commercial and trade collaboration between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.
In addition, Macao is primed to boost its conference and exhibition industries, traditional Chinese medicine, educational services, and cultural development.
Glitter And Glory
Realizing the limited land area that was a bottleneck of the growth of Macau for a long time, Xi announced the decision of the central authorities to begin working on the demarcation of Macao's maritime waters in December 2014.
According to a map published a year ago by the central government, the Macao SAR would administer an 85-square-kilometer sea area.
The design room of Macao has also expanded over the years as it has continued to incorporate its growth into the country's development plan, such as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao.
Meanwhile, after four centuries of Portuguese rule ended in 1999, the landscape and economy of Macao has changed beyond recognition, with glittering casinos the backbone of the dramatic rise of the capital.
Macao's gross domestic product has risen from $6.4 billion in 1999 to over $55 billion as the only place in China where gambling is allowed.
