China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) has seen remarkable economic progress over the years, with the region's business environment enjoying distinct advantages that are driving its sustainable development, according to a local official.
Macao's gross domestic product (GDP) reached 301 billion Macanese pataca (MOP) (about 37.5 billion U.S. dollars) for the first three quarters of 2024, marking a real year-on-year growth of 11.5 percent, according to data from the Statistics and Census Service of the Macao SAR Government.
This marks the first time since 2019 that Macao's GDP for the first three quarters has surpassed the 300 billion MOP level, with service exports increasing by 11.4 percent year on year.
The continued improvement in Macao's local economic conditions and job market has led to rising incomes for residents, fueling steady growth in private consumption. In the first three quarters of this year, the consumer expenditure rose by 5.8 percent year on year.
Speaking in a recent interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Vincent U, president of the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute of the Macao SAR, highlighted three key figures that illustrate Macao's unique advantages.
"Regarding the unique advantage, I would like to share three figures with you. Firstly, is one, the most important advantage of Macao is the 'One country, two systems'. Under one country, two systems, we have a series of advantages. And the second figure is nine. We are designated by the central government as the only place, as the platform between China and Portuguese speaking countries for economic cooperation. And as you may know, Portuguese speaking countries compose of nine countries, with nearly 300 million population, which is a huge market," the president continued.
U also noted the significance of the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin, Zhuhai City, which has helped Macao address the long-standing spatial constraints.
"And lastly, the figure is 106; 106 meaning the land space [area] of Hengqin, the Hengqin-Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone. Why did I share that? Because as you may know, Macao is a very small place. The land space is a very bad limitation for us. And because it is a long term problem for us, the 106 square kilometers of land space of Hengqin has transformed this situation. And it is very meaningful for us, especially for our sustainable economic development in the future," said the president.
In 2021, the Chinese central authorities decided to build the cooperation zone in Hengqin, making the island an important new growth point for Macao's economy.
By 2035, the 106-square-kilometer area is expected to become a strong growth engine for the Guangzhou-Zhuhai-Macao science and technology innovation corridor and have helped promote appropriate diversity in Macao's economy.
Unique advantages drive Macao's sustainable economic development: official
