CE meets Governor of Hebei Province, extending practical cooperation

MACAU, June 5 - The Chief Executive, Mr Sam Hou Fai, met with the Governor of Hebei Province, Mr Wang Zhengpu. The two officials exchanged views on further leveraging Macao’s platform role and deepening practical cooperation between Hebei and Macao across multiple fields.

The meeting was held on Thursday (4 June) at Government Headquarters in Macao. In the meeting, Mr Sam said the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR) Government is committed to promoting healthy and sustainable economic and social development, fully harnessing Macao’s unique strengths of being “backed by the motherland, connected to the world”.

He went on to say that the MSAR continued to advance appropriate economic diversification and deepen the development of its role as “One Centre, One Platform, and One Base” and the new initiative of building Macao as a hub for attracting international high-end talented people.

Meanwhile, Macao is actively and closely aligning with the country’s 15th Five-Year Plan, and is currently formulating and preparing to implement its own Third Five-Year Plan for the Economic and Social Development of the MSAR (2026–2030), based on local realities, and charting a clear development blueprint for the next five years.

Mr Sam added that Macao is striving to become an important gateway for the country’s high-level opening-up, and a key window for exchanges between Chinese civilisation and Western civilisations. In this role, Macao can serve as a “precise connector” to help Hebei strengthen cooperation with Portuguese-speaking countries. By deepening practical collaboration in matters related to trade, culture, tourism, and education, both sides can jointly explore broader international markets, while injecting new momentum into Macao’s economic diversification.

The Chief Executive also suggested that Hebei and Macao could share successful experiences in tourism-sector talent training, and the organisation of conferences and exhibitions, promoting mutual advancement in these sectors.

Governor Wang noted that Hebei boasts a long history and rich cultural heritage, with many distinctive cultural and tourism resources. He hoped Hebei could learn from Macao’s successful practices, and strengthen cooperation, so as to promote deeper integration and high-quality development of the cultural and tourism industries in both regions.

Hebei also has a major role in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) with a solid industrial foundation, and there is broad potential for deepening TCM collaboration with Macao. The two sides could advance cooperation in training professionals and in scientific innovation, and jointly build world-class teaching and research platforms.

Mr Wang further stated that Hebei attaches great importance to Macao’s role as a platform, and will continue to participate in conferences, exhibitions, and trade promotion events held in Macao. This will encourage Hebei enterprises to “go global” and promote economic, trade, and industrial cooperation with Portuguese- and Spanish-speaking countries.

Officials also present at the meeting included:  the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Ms O Lam; the Chief-of-Office of the Chief Executive’s Office, Ms Chan Kak; the President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, Ms Leong Wai Man; the President of the Board of Directors of the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute, Mr Che Weng Keong; and Acting Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, Ms Si Tou Lam Lai.

Representatives of the Hebei Provincial People’s Government in the meeting included: the Secretary-General, Mr Zhu Haowen; the Director of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Mr Zhao Bing; and the Director of the Provincial Foreign Affairs Office (Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office), Mr Wang Jianfeng.