Wen Jiabao assures support for Macau

Wen Jiabao: “We will support Macau in the development of its tourism industry and leisure and appropriate diversification of its economy.”

The Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao assured yesterday that Macau and Hong Kong can always count on “strong support” of China to ensure their “sustainable prosperity”, news agency Lusa reported.
“The great motherland will always remain a strong support of Hong Kong and Macau,” said Wen Jiabao, presenting the Central Government’s work report to some 3,000 delegates who attended the 11th annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC).
At the end of the document, whose reading lasted nearly two hours, Wen Jiabao said the Chinese Central Government “fully supports” the policies of Hong Kong and Macau to “maintain a lasting prosperity and stability” of the two Special Administrative Regions.
Wen Jiabao said: “We will support Macau in the development of its tourism industry and leisure and appropriate diversification of its economy.”
Wen Jiabao also raised relations with Taiwan, the island  which Beijing regards as a province of China and where the former Chinese government took refuge after the Communist Party seized power in the continent 60 years ago.
“The mainland and Taiwan belong to one China (...) With the concerted efforts of all Chinese people, we can achieve the complete reunification of the motherland,” said the Premier.
Wen Jiabao welcomed the “significant progress” and “the trend towards a peaceful development”, recorded last year in relations with Taiwan, promising to “enhance political trust” between the two parties.
The annual meeting of the NPC will run until March 14. At the opening session, the Prime Minister announced that China’s economy will grow “about eight percent” in 2010 and warned that the foundations of the global recovery remain “fragile”.
The goal now is to reach almost one percentage point below the growth of 8.7 percent registered in 2009, but Wen Jiabao stressed that the country still faces “a very complex situation” this year.