China’s president, Xi Jinping, has urged the gambling hub of Macau to diversify away from casinos, as he addressed the Chinese territory at the inauguration of its new leader.
Xi was in Macau to mark the 25th anniversary of its return from Portuguese to Chinese rule on 20 December 1999. In the quarter-century since then, Macau has been run as a special administrative region of China, a semi-autonomous territory with a similar legal status to Hong Kong, but it has traditionally been much more pliant to Beijing’s rule than the former British territory. More than half of its 700,000 population have immigrated from China in recent decades.
On Friday, Sam Hou Fai was sworn in as the city’s new chief executive. The senior judge is the city’s first leader to have been born and raised in mainland China, having grown up in south China’s Guangdong province. He is fluent in Portuguese.
Xi said: “At present the overall situation in Macau is stable, but the internal and external environment is undergoing profound changes. Efforts should be made to promote moderate economic diversification [and] focus on cultivating new industries with international competitiveness.”
Despite being more obedient than Hong Kong over the years, Macau has traditionally had a small civil society. For decades there was a small annual vigil each 4 June in memory of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, something that would not be tolerated in mainland China. But after the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, the authorities in Macau tightened restrictions on free expression. In 2021, Macau’s top court, headed by Sam, upheld a ban on the annual vigil.
Macau is the only place in China where gambling is legal. Tourists from mainland China flock to the city to visit its casinos. Last year the industry generated more than $22bn ($17.5bn), and gaming tax accounts for about 80% of the local government’s tax revenue.
The city has also been a hub for money laundering. Since Xi came to power in 2012, he has cracked down on corruption, a policy that has reduced the amount of money flowing through Macau. In 2012, the city’s gambling revenues were much higher than they are today, at $38bn.
Sam, 62, has been president of Macau’s top court since 1999. He was the only candidate approved by Beijing to run in the election for chief executive, which was held in October. On Friday he promised “immediate action” to diversify Macau away from the casino industry.
