Macao's cooperation with Hengqin New Area in Guangdong Province will be a boon to its diversified development, said Li Gang, Beijing's top representative in Macao, during the annual session of China's top legislative body on March 5 in Beijing.

Li Gang, director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in Macao. [Photo courtesy Macao Evening]

Well-known for its gambling industry, Macao has been seeking to promote other industries but has failed to achieve much progress due to its limited land area, said Li at a meeting of the third session of the 12th National People's Congress. Li is the director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the Macao Special Administrative Region.

Since 2014, Macao has cooperated with Hengqin to establish industrial parks for the traditional Chinese medicine industry and other industries. Scores of Macao-funded programs have been initiated on Hengqin Island, and more cooperative programs are underway.

Li asserted that in order to promote diversified development, Macao needs to intensify cooperation with Hengqin and establish more industrial parks on Hengqin Island. "In this way, Macao can cross its boundaries, help more companies seek development outside, promote new industries, nurture new growth areas for its economy and work for substantive results in its appropriately diversified development," Li said.

Macao has a total area of less than 35 square kilometers. The gambling industry is the mainstay of its economy, but its gambling revenue has been declining since June 2014. In February, Macao's gambling revenue plummeted a record 48.6 percent from revenue in the same period last year.

Hengqin is a coastal island with a land area of 106.46 square kilometers in the southern corner of the city of Zhuhai in Guangdong Province. Situated only 200 meters away from Macao, Hengqin was selected as a "New Area" in 2009 to enhance economic ties with Hong Kong and Macao.