Macao SAR to advance building of Hengqin co-op zone in pragmatic manner: chief executive

China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will advance the construction of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin in a pragmatic manner to gradually implement reform and opening-up measures, Chief Executive of the Macao SAR Ho Iat Seng said on Tuesday.

In September, the central authorities issued a general plan for building the cooperation zone in Hengqin, which is located in Zhuhai city, Guangdong Province, just adjacent to Macao, as a major arrangement to enrich the practice of "one country, two systems" in Macao and boost the SAR's appropriate economic diversification.

The Macao SAR government will speed up the drafting of major supporting policies, including special measures to relax market access in the cooperation zone, as well as a list of the first batch of authorized items and encouraged industries, Ho said in the policy address for the fiscal year 2022.

Tremendous efforts should be made to diversify the Macao economy by developing new industries, Ho said, stressing that the SAR government will work to promote the development of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), modern financing, and tourism and related industries in the cooperation zone.

The SAR government will also actively participate in the building of legal system in the area, deepening exchanges and cooperation in law and justice with neighboring Guangdong Province, and improving the dispute settlement mechanism, Ho added.