The scenery of Macao Peninsula in south China, Nov. 18, 2019. On Dec. 20, Macao will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its return to the motherland. Over the past two decades, the special administrative region has made great strides in economic development and achieved prosperity and stability under the "one country, two systems" principle. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)

Macao has achieved prosperity and stability after its return to the motherland in 1999. A small economy with a population of about 670,000, Macao's gross domestic product per capita surpassed 80,000 U.S. dollars in 2018, one of the highest in the world.

Enjoying the status of free port, independent financial, monetary and taxation policies, Macao has found its unique roles in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Lao Chi Ngai, president of Macao Economic Association and a member of Macao's legislature, told Xinhua that the key for Macao's development is to find its proper position.

"As early as 2007, the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government decided to promote tourism industry. In 2009, the central government put forward, for the first time, Macao's role as world tourism and leisure center in the Pearl River delta region, and such a role was reiterated again and again in the following national development strategies," Lao said.

He added that the tourism and leisure, including gaming industry, is very suitable for Macao's infrastructure condition and advantage. The tourism market has kept booming, with 35.8 million visitors received in 2018.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes, director of the Macao Government Tourism Office, said the tourism and leisure industry is a pillar of Macao's economy, and the tourism office has worked to promote residents' awareness and acceptance of this industry.

The tourism office has initiated Macao Tourism Awareness Campaign since 2013 and attracted 130,000 residents to participate. The residents in Macao have been friendly to visitors and welcomed mandarin, or "putonghua," which is mainly used by mainland visitors who account for about 70 percent of the total in 2018.

Tourists visit the Ruins of St. Paul's in south China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), on Oct 8, 2019. (Xinhua/Cheong Kam Ka)

Besides tourism, Macao also has made the best use of the hotel and resort venues to cultivate its MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) business as one part of the industrial chain.

Joseph Fang, an expert on "one country, two systems" research, said the industrial diversification is a difficult task for Macao with limited land and human resource. But Macao managed to expand the industrial chain of gambling and tourism into convention and exhibition.

In 2017, the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry ranked Macao as the best-performing exhibition market in Asia over the past five years, even it was one of the youngest and smallest MICE markets in Asia.

"In recent years the Macao SAR government has developed featured finance, including financial leasing, export credit and renminbi clearing of Portuguese-speaking countries (PSCs), which is supported by Macao's role as a platform for cooperation between China and PSCs. This is what we can do to our advantage," said Leong Vai Tac, secretary for economy and finance of Macao.

Initiated in 2003, the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and PSCs (Macao) now includes Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Timor-Leste, and Sao Tome and Principe.

In 2017, China and PSCs Cooperation and Development Fund established its headquarters in Macao, and has provided consultation and financing services for enterprises from China and PSCs to operate in overseas projects, such as infrastructure programs in Belt and Road countries.

In February 2019, China's National Development and Reform Commission and the Macao SAR government signed an agreement to support Macao's featured finance.

The agreement said it supports Macao's cooperation with the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, Silk Road Fund, China and Africa Development Fund and other related institutions to provide international investment and financing services.

In October 2019, the Monetary Authority of Macao said it "has started a feasibility research on the establishment of a renminbi-dominated stock exchange."

"In this way Macao can find an approach like a niche market in financial service," Leong added.