Macao became the second special administrative region of China on Dec 20, 1999, not long after Hong Kong became the first SAR on July 1, 1997. This year Macao celebrates the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Macao Special Administrative Region according to the “one country, two systems” framework. Both SARs have enjoyed a high degree of autonomy within China, each with a chief executive elected by an electoral committee. As long as national security is assured, Beijing has always allowed the SAR governments to deal with their own issues.
I recall that Macao was suffering from a surge in crime before the handover. There was a spike in violence. Law and order faced a lot of challenges. Many people wondered how the newly established SAR government could bring back peace and order. Amazingly, law and order returned to Macao soon after the handover. The crime rate has continued to stay at historically low levels. Visitors to Macao almost never need to worry about pickpockets, robberies, or violence as they roam the picturesque city with its many delights. Both Macao and Hong Kong are among the world’s safest cities.
Since the launch of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development plan in 2019, Macao and Hong Kong have taken on new roles as the “2” in the 9+2 cities of the GBA area. The new roles pertain to their uniqueness in their historical links to the rest of the world. The “2006 Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament — The European Union, Hong Kong and Macao: Possibilities for Cooperation 2007-2013” noted that, “The existing policy and regulatory dialogues and cooperation between the EU and the Hong Kong and Macao SARs have provided an excellent base for relations. To move relations further forward, this base needs to be built upon and strengthened, and at the same time widened to include other sectors and take account of the much greater EU cooperation with mainland China. Hong Kong and Macao are indeed platforms for deepening cooperation with mainland China.” Hong Kong, of course, is among the world’s most open economies and is well connected with practically every country on Earth.
In a 2020 article in Asian Education and Development Studies, I argued that the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA Plan) is a “market-driven plan” to enhance the agglomeration economies of the GBA cities, in the sense that the positioning of each of the 11 cities in the GBA is to follow its comparative advantage as driven by its own relative strengths and the market, rather than the will of any planner. “The GBA Plan is essentially addressed to government officials and particularly policymakers at all levels of government, so that they will deal with all the problems (as identified by the Plan’s critics).” Happily, as things unfold, indeed we have seen the gradual removal of previous hindrances and obstacles to cooperation and integration. Hong Kong and Macao residents have now found Shenzhen, Zhuhai and other GBA cities much easier to visit to enjoy a day or a weekend. Just this past Nov 24 saw 67 professional cyclists from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao embark on a competition at the 2024 Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Road Cycling Race covering 230 kilometers across Hong Kong, Macao and Guangdong.
With more research and development, in time Macao’s comparative advantage will shift toward technology-intensive industries, greatly enhancing the SAR’s attempt to diversify its industries
Macao, like Hong Kong, is now busy attracting and grooming talent. Blessed with strong support from the central government, Macao’s higher education sector has improved by leaps and bounds. Since its relocation to Hengqin, Zhuhai, in 2014, the University of Macau has grown into one of the world’s leading research universities, among the top 1 percent in essential sciences indicator rankings in 14 subjects, including engineering, materials science, computer science, chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology, clinical medicine, psychiatry/psychology, biology and biochemistry, social sciences (general), molecular biology and genetics, agricultural sciences, economics and business, environment/ecology, and mathematics. Several State key laboratories have been set up in the University of Macau and the Macau University of Science and Technology. With more research and development, in time Macao’s comparative advantage will shift toward technology-intensive industries, greatly enhancing the SAR’s attempt to diversify its industries.
It is true that although Macao’s GDP is very high, with a per capita GDP in 2023 estimated at $57,931.70, the per capita income of Macao residents is nowhere near that. Its minimum wage is now at 7,072 patacas ($882) per month or 34 patacas per hour, far lower than Hong Kong’s HK$40 ($5.14). The high GDP per capita is due to the high intensity of foreign ownership in Macao’s income-earning assets. But diversification of Macao’s industrial base will gradually bring about a material change, boosting local residents’ incomes.
Both Macao and Hong Kong boast the world’s highest life expectancies. Macao’s male and female life expectancies at birth are 80.3 and 86 respectively, as compared with Hong Kong’s 82.5 and 88.1. However, both Macao and Hong Kong have to face the problem of declining fertility rates. While this appears to be a predominant problem in the world these days, low fertility rates in Macao and Hong Kong are more acute than in the West or even the Chinese mainland, and need to be addressed.
The author is an adjunct research professor at Pan Sutong Shanghai-Hong Kong Economic Policy Research Institute and Economics Department, Lingnan University.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.
