Against the backdrop of the gaming downturn, Beijing’s representative in the territory says supportive measures for Macau, especially for the gaming industry, are in the works
The director of the Chinese Liaison Office in Macau, Li Gang (pictured), revealed last week that the Chinese central government would introduce more polices to support the city’s economy, several of which will be related to the gaming industry.
Talking to reporters on the sidelines of an event celebrating the 66th anniversary of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China last Thursday, the Chinese official, however, did not elaborate on the possible effective measures that would be introduced by the Chinese authorities.
Nevertheless, indicating some policies are also to boost the local tourism industry, Mr. Li told reporters that they would be similar to the recent easing of transit visa restrictions for the city’s Mainland Chinese tourists which enables them to spend seven days in the territory rather than five.
Asked by reporters whether the central government would allow tourists from more Mainland cities to travel to Macau under the Individual Visit Scheme (IVS), Chinese officials said it would depend upon the city’s tourism capacity, local government studies and public opinion.
But he stressed that the city needs to improve the quality of tourists over quantity. “Gross gaming revenues would not be dragged up by increasing the number of [tourists] only,” local broadcaster TDM Radio quoted Mr. Li as saying.
In addition, the Liaison Office director perceives that the downturn of the local gaming industry is primarily due to the overall economic situation, claiming the central government’s anti-graft policy and restrictions on UnionPay are only some of the factors.
Administrative area to expand
Meanwhile, Mr. Li said the Chinese government would demarcate both land and maritime boundaries for the Special Administrative Region within this year.
“Following that, the total area that the local government owns the jurisdiction of would be expanded a few times. Meanwhile, it can develop more projects [in the new administrative area]. This is very likely to happen,” the Liaison office head told reporters.
Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On told reporters at the same event last Thursday that he believes the clarification of the jurisdiction of customary waters would strengthen the city’s efforts to diversify its economy and expand its non-gaming tourism elements.
He confirmed that the government had submitted its request for the administrative rights over the city’s customary waters to Beijing last week.



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