Crowds gather to give warm welcome to President Xi in Macao

People from various sectors of society gathered at Macao International Airport to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping, who arrived in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Wednesday.

President Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, will attend a gathering celebrating the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and the inauguration ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Macao SAR on Friday.

"I feel really excited right now, because it's the first time I have such an opportunity [to participate in this activity]. I was born in 1999, the same year as Macao's return to the motherland. So, this year also marks that I've reached 25," said Chin Tung Yee, a graduate student at the University of Macau.

The school of Escola Choi Nong Chi Tai organized a welcoming lion dance performance at the airport to greet Xi's arrival.

Siu Chi Hung, director of moral education department at the school, noted that the support of the motherland has propped up the rapid development of Macao.

"I'm very excited and happy, because the anniversary is truly a great day. Over the past 25 days, our country has really taken great care of Macao," said Siu.

Wong Ka Lon, chairman of Macao Youth Federation, said that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has provided Macao with a broad platform for development.

"The government has given Macao youths a lot of convenience, respect and opportunities. Especially now, the establishment of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin has provided us with a platform for development that makes our future even more promising. We're full of expectations for our future," he said.

On December 20, 1999, the Chinese government resumed its exercise of sovereignty over Macao and established the Macao SAR.

Since its return to the motherland, Macao has achieved significant economic growth. Reflecting the robustness of Macao's economy and its fiscal strength, the SAR's fiscal reserves stood at around 617 billion Macao patacas (MOP) (around 77.22 billion U.S. dollars) as of September 2024, an increase of 43.5 billion MOP compared with the same period in 2019.

Crowds gather to give warm welcome to President Xi in Macao

The development of China-Russia ties is not for the short run, but based on long-term strategic interests, Chinese Ambassador to Russia Zhang Hanhui said on Sunday.

Zhang made the remarks when responding to a query about major-country relations in an interview with Phoenix TV in Beijing.

"The China-Russia relationship enjoys a high level of political mutual trust, a solid political foundation, and well-established communication mechanisms, guaranteed particularly by mechanisms for high-level exchanges. Because of the broad interests shared between both sides, the development of bilateral relations has a promising future, without the need for us to worry about what could go wrong," Zhang said.

"As for whether Russia-U.S. relations could affect China-Russia relations, I'd say they are like two lines independent from each other. It is up to Russia and the United States to decide how they develop their relations. The development of China-Russia ties is not for the short run, but based on long-term strategic considerations," he added.

Zhang said China and Russia, as two neighboring countries, persist in pursuing good neighborliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and strategic coordination in developing their ties.

"China and Russia develop our relations based on shared interests. The two are neighbors and also major countries. They are the only two countries among the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council that share a border. Therefore, maintaining good neighborliness, mutually beneficial cooperation and strategic coordination is an inevitable choice for us," said the ambassador.

Development of China-Russia ties based on long-term strategic interests: ambassador