In an interview with state broadcaster CCTV, Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak underlined the Macau government’s commitment to strengthening the alignment of rules and mechanisms between Macau and Hengqin, one of the main tasks listed in Macau’s 3rd Five-Year Plan.
The Macau government announced and published the final version of the 3rd Five-Year Plan on Tuesday.
In the interview, which was conducted in Macau recently and broadcast on CCTV Channel 13 yesterday, Wong said, speaking Putonghua, that institutional innovation, including the alignment of rules and mechanisms, is a “very important” element for Macau-Hengqin integrated development.
While this is a key tool necessary for advancing Macau-Hengqin future development, it will be a “complicated and difficult” task for the Macau government and the Hengqin authorities to achieve, he acknowledged.
The 106-square-kilometre Hengqin island in Zhuhai City is officially known as Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, following its inauguration in September 2021. The adjacent island is three times the size of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR).
The in-depth cooperation zone’s governance consists of a management committee and an executive committee.
The management committee is the zone’s top decision-making body run under a dual director system, jointly led by the governor of Guangdong Province and the chief executive of the MSAR.
The zone’s executive committee, which is run under the management committee, is the body tasked with the zone’s daily functioning and execution of tasks.
There are nine bureaux administered under the zone’s executive committee.
Currently, the zone’s management committee is jointly headed by Guangdong Governor Meng Fanli and MSAR Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai.
Wong is the management committee’s executive deputy director. The management committee has five deputy directors comprising officials from Guangdong and Macau.
In the interview with CCTV, Wong underlined the Macau government’s commitment to advancing Hengqin’s ongoing second-phase development. The Macau government will strengthen Macau’s alignment and integration with Hengqin’s current planning and policy documents, with emphasis placed on aspects such as industrial development and people’s daily life matters, with the aim of creating a legal environment in Hengqin similar to that of Macau, he said.
Moreover, Wong said, the Macau government will also advance the alignment of rules regarding market access, the flow of production factors, standards recognition and certification, and sector supervision, thereby facilitating Macau-Hengqin integrated development.
Meanwhile, according to a Xinhua report published yesterday, Wong also elaborated on the Macau government’s commitment to fostering Macau-Hengqin integrated development during a joint media interview conducted recently.
Wong underlined the need for leveraging Macau’s unique institutional advantages brought about by implementation of the “One Country, Two Systems” principle in its ongoing participation in Hengqin’s development.
By achieving deep convergence across administration, industry, and social governance, the aim is to build a higher-level collaborative governance system, Wong said.
Wong said that specific measures will include strengthening Macau’s executive-led governance system in order to boost governance effectiveness, advancing the construction of a Macau-Hengqin collaborative industrial system, deepening the alignment of rules and mechanisms, and facilitating collaborative social co-governance.
Wong pointed out that the 3rd Five-Year Plan has a dedicated section about advancing the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin.
This section includes a chapter about deepening Macau-Hengqin integrated development, designating the alignment of rules and mechanisms as one of the key tasks for the Macau government, he noted.
This photo released yesterday shows Secretary for Administration and Justice Wong Sio Chak gesturing while speaking during a joint media interview conducted in Macau recently. – Photo: Xinhua
