Macau, China, June 16, 2026 (Lusa) - The Chief Executive of Macau, Sam Hou Fai, said on Tuesday that the predominance of the government branch over the legislative and judicial branches is crucial to “ensuring the territory’s social stability and economic development”.
The Chief Executive appeared before the territory’s Legislative Assembly today to answer questions from legislators, stating that the “predominance of the government branch” has been “beneficial to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of governance” since the handover from Portugal to China and helps to promote “social stability and economic development”.
According to the Chief Executive, during the first half of this year, Macau’s economy maintained a “stable and positive” trajectory, with the social situation remaining “harmonious and stable”.
Sam Hou Fai noted that in the first quarter of this year, Macau’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 107.5 billion patacas (€11.39 billion), representing year-on-year real growth of 7.1%, recovering to 90.3% of the level recorded in 2019.
Between January and May, public tax revenue totalled 49.68 billion patacas (€5.26 billion), whilst financial reserves, at the end of April, stood at 697.3 billion patacas (€73.87 billion), with the overall unemployment rate remaining low at 1.8% between February and April.
The concept of the predominance of government power had already been emphasised by Chinese President Xi Jinping during the presentation of Sam Hou Fai’s work report in December last year in Beijing.
Previously, the director of the Hong Kong and Macau Work Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Xia Baolong, indicated in a speech to the territory’s Legislative Assembly that the relationship between the government and legislative branches cannot be understood in the same way “as the West interprets the separation of powers”.
Xi also pointed out that the primacy of the government is essential to safeguarding the constitutional order of Macau and Hong Kong, and that the legislative and judicial bodies must protect the system of government primacy.
After more than 400 years under Portuguese administration, Macau became a Special Administrative Region [SAR] of China on 20 December 1999, with a high degree of autonomy agreed for a period of 50 years at the government, legislative and judicial levels, with the Chinese central government being responsible for foreign affairs and defence.
Sam Hou Fai emphasised on Tuesday that it was necessary to “build better dialogue between the government and legislative branches”, particularly regarding the “public administration reform” that local authorities aim to achieve by 2029.
The Chief Executive noted in the Legislative Assembly that, by early June, the restructuring of six civil service departments had already been completed.
Currently, Macau has 30,777 civil servants, down from a peak of 38,000 in 2020.
However, the head of the Macau government said that this restructuring process is not aimed at eliminating departments or jobs, but rather at “improving the efficiency of the government apparatus”.
“We have been paying close attention to our staff, and we adhere to two fundamental principles. Firstly, we cannot make staff redundant, and secondly, we cannot reduce staff pay,” he concluded.
NCM/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
