Ministers meet the media (III): Highlights

Nation to support Macao in economic transformation

The central government will give unwavering support to Macao for its transition to a more diversified economy, said Zhang Xiaoming, director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council.

He believes that the SAR will have a prosperous future under the nation's support.

Macao has pushed ahead with the plan to transform Macao into a world-class tourism and leisure center, and a commerce and trade cooperation services platform between China and Lusophone countries, Zhang said.

Zhang stresses central government's role in national security

The central government has an unquestionable role to maintain national security, including that in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office Zhang Xiaoming stressed.

He fielded questions from the press at the two-sessions "ministers' passage" a week after the central government issued an official letter to voice support of the HKSAR government's ban on the pro-independence Hong Kong National Party, and at the same time requested the chief executive submit a report on the issue.

It is impossible for the central government to turn a blind eye to acts that jeopardize national security in Hong Kong, as the SAR is an inalienable part of China, Zhang said.