The Central Government in Beijing may relax restrictions imposed to mainland Chinese residents to visit Macau, in a move to save Macau from possible economic downturn.

Meanwhile, academics in Guangdong said in a seminar in Guangzhou that Beijing has included Macau’s development positioning into the Development Plan of the Pearl River Delta Region.

Director of the Insitute of International Economy of the Guangdong Academy of Social Sciences, Qiu Shan (丘杉) said that the document will explicitly indicate that the Central Government ‘fully supports Macau to reinforce its position as a world-class tourism and leisure centre’.

The newspaper speculates that the Central Government will also assess the impact made to Macau’s small businesses as a result of recent restriction imposed to residents in the neighbouring province of Guangdong to visit Macau.

The paper said that restrictions imposed at that time was to prevent Macau’s economy from overheating, but since market situation is now completely different, it is also of mainland China’s interest to ensure a steady growth in the economy.

A 170-strong team of officials and experts had been to the Pearl River Delta region in September, and a seminar was held in Guangzhou to listen to opinions of academics and officials in Guangdong, Macau and Hong Kong on drafting the Development Plan for the Pearl River Delta Region.

The Plan is said to last for at least 20 to 30 years.

On the other hand, Citibank quoted sources from Melco PBL Entertainment that Beijing may relax restrictions of mainland Chinese residents to Macau at or before the middle of 2009.

Source: Blogmacau.info

Oct 27, 2008 5:03 PM