The important advice and guidelines given by Xia Baolong, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, during his recent visit to Macao will help us explore what lies ahead for this international city and the wider Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. During his inspection tour, Xia painted a rosy picture of Macao’s future by highlighting its six unique advantages.

With its distinctive Oriental charm rooted in rich cultural heritage and a gambling-propelled tourist industry, Macao has been second to none in attracting tourists from all corners of the globe. Besides being an international tourist hub, Macao has also hit the jackpot in its efforts to diversify its economy and integrate with the GBA. These efforts will create the necessary conditions for helping Macao achieve sustainable development. Furthermore, Xia’s “six advantages” proposition serves as an important reminder that Macao should rely on its unique advantages to make further efforts to meet the economic and strategic needs of the motherland.

According to Xia, Macao’s six advantages are: the institutional advantage of the “one country, two systems” principle, sufficient development space, a highly internationalized business environment, a unique blend of Chinese and Western cultures, a strong economic foundation, and a longstanding passion for patriotism and loyalty. Xia emphasized the need to make concerted efforts to use these advantages to build a “golden business card” for Macao. Xia also emphasized that Macao is an international city.

Macao can use the zone as a springboard to promote deeper integration into the GBA, which offers substantial economic opportunities for Macao, allowing it to gain valuable access to the huge GBA market

The problems arising from Macao’s unbalanced economy have come under the academic spotlight since the mid-1990s (Ieong Wan Chong, et al, Macau: A Model of Mini-Economy, University of Macau, 1997). In a recent article, Liu Chengkun and Lin Yongjia asserted that economic diversification is the only way for Macao to achieve sustainable development. The path to promoting Macao’s diversified and sustainable development lies in internal industrial pluralism and external regional deepening. Internal industrial pluralism refers to the need to develop trade and logistics, finance, cultural and creative industries, and traditional Chinese medicine. In order to deepen its external regional ties, Macao should promote the sustained and rapid development of trade cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.

In November 2023, Macao released an economic diversification plan for 2024-28. The document outlines specific planning and arrangements for developing Macao’s industries of tourism and leisure, traditional Chinese medicine and big health, modern finance, new and high technologies, conventions and exhibitions, and culture and sports. With regard to the development of modern finance, we should give credit to the innovative efforts made by former Hong Kong Exchange and Clearing Ltd CEO Charles Li Xiaojia to establish the world’s first daily revenue obligations (DROs) financial market in Macao, the Micro Connect Macao Financial Assets Exchange (MCEX), which allows investors to directly invest in small and medium-sized Chinese firms through the DROs. According to Li, the mission of the MCEX is to connect global capital to small and micro businesses in China as a starting point.

Bearing a disproportionately large share of revenue of the entire tourist sector, Macao’s gigantic gambling sector has been brought to the forefront of the minds of scholars and policymakers. It is worth noting that Macao’s gross gaming revenue was 5.5 times greater than that of Las Vegas. Fully aware of the need to create a world-class integrated holiday resort for tourists, the gaming and entertainment sectors are eager to offer a wide and diverse range of leisure and entertainment activities for different types of visitors.

For example, Galaxy Macau aims at achieving a longer stay by its guests through an extensive choice of leisure and entertainment activities. MGM China Holdings will launch the MGM 2049 residency show in December 2024. In a bid to expose themselves to a great variety of leisure and entertainment activities, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) travelers and concertgoers have included Macao in their itineraries. Some holiday resorts are also famous for holding arts events to attract visitors.

Although it remains unclear what and how much the economic cooperation between Macao and Hengqin can deliver, we are sure that the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone on Hengqin Island (the Cooperation Zone) is a successful demonstration zone for integrated living between Guangdong province and Macao. The Cooperation Zone is home to 56,000 commercial entities and more than 10,000 technology companies. In the Cooperation Zone, architects, lawyers, tour guides and doctors from both sides can practice their professions across borders.

Macao can use the zone as a springboard to promote deeper integration into the GBA, which offers substantial economic opportunities for Macao, allowing it to gain valuable access to the huge GBA market. The GBA economy is estimated at around $1.7 trillion, with a population of over 70 million people. In fact, the future of Hong Kong and Macao lies in the GBA.

Finally, political scientist Sonny Lo Shiu-hing has drawn our attention to Xia’s inspection tour of the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge and the fourth bridge linking the Macao Peninsula with Taipa Island. According to Lo, infrastructure projects are extremely important for the integration of Hong Kong and Macao into the GBA. The integration covers socioeconomic and political aspects. The above analysis may help explain why Xia has strong confidence in Macao’s future.

Lei Wun-kong, is a lawyer based in Macao, and a litigation and practice senior consultant of the Chinese Dream Think Tank.

Kacee Ting Wong is a barrister, part-time researcher of Shenzhen University Hong Kong and the Macao Basic Law Research Center, chairman of the Chinese Dream Think Tank, and a district councilor.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.