China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) will shore up its economy and mitigate public difficulties while keeping the COVID-19 epidemic under control in the coming year, Chief Executive of the Macao SAR Ho Iat Seng said on Tuesday.

Macao's economy has been gradually recovering in the past year thanks to the strong support from the central government and mainland provinces, municipalities and regions, and the Macao SAR government had managed to maintain economic and social stability and made progress in achieving appropriate economic diversification, Ho said when delivering the policy address for the fiscal year 2023.

Looking to 2023, the chief executive said the Macao SAR government will focus on speeding up economic recovery and diversification, stepping up infrastructure construction, and optimizing work on people's livelihood while continuing to contain the epidemic.

The Macao SAR government will stay committed to the policy of building Macao into a world tourism and leisure center while continuously promoting the development of other major industries including health, modern finance, hi-tech, conventions and exhibitions, and culture and sports, Ho stressed.

Faced with an increasingly severe security situation, the Macao SAR government will persist in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and development interests, and firmly prevent and stop external forces from interfering with Macao affairs.

Ho said the Macao SAR government will make full efforts to continue advancing the amendment of the law on safeguarding national security in Macao and its supporting legislation, implement the enforcement mechanism, and fully support advisers to the Committee for Safeguarding National Security of the Macao SAR in performing their duties.

Noting that the year 2023 is key to deepening the building of the Guangdong-Macao in-depth cooperation zone in Hengqin, Zhuhai city, Ho said the Macao SAR government will work with Guangdong Province to continuously improve the new model of mutual consultation, joint construction, joint administration and shared benefits to promote the integration in Hengqin.

The general plan for building the cooperation zone in Hengqin was made public on September 5, 2021.

The Macao SAR government will work closely with Guangdong Province to orderly advance legislation in the cooperation zone, facilitate the implementation of supportive supervision and taxation policies as well as major supporting measures such as expanding market access, and building a legal system that deeply integrates with Macao in the civil and commercial areas, Ho said.

He also mentioned in the policy address the need to promote the quality development of modern finance, hi-tech industries and the big health industry, and actively participate in the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative.