Xi visits casino hub Macao to mark 25 years of its return to Chinese rule
Associated Press
MACAO (AP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping has begun a three-day visit to Macao to mark the 25th anniversary of the casino city’s return to Chinese rule. Xi and his wife were welcomed at the airport Wednesday by a lavish ceremony. Xi told reporters that Macao, a former Portuguese colony of 687,000 people, is “the pearl in the motherland’s palm.” Like neighboring financial hub Hong Kong, Beijing has ruled Macao under the “one country, two systems” principle that allows the cities to retain their own Western-style legal and economic systems. Macao is the only city in China where casino gambling is legal.
