Structural reform can drive Macao's growth

In the two decades since its return to the motherland, the Macao Special Administrative Region's economy has made great achievements thanks in no small measure to the Chinese mainland's expanding economy, the central government's preferential policies and the efforts of hardworking Macao residents.

Macao's economy has grown rapidly, especially after the mainland joined the World Trade Organization in 2001, launched the Individual Visit Scheme for Hong Kong and Macao in 2003, and began opening up the gambling industry in the SAR and launched the yuan's internationalization process.

In the two decades preceding its return to China, Macao's average GDP growth rate was 4.9 percent, while the average GDP growth rate in the two decades since its return has been as high as 8.1 percent. Macao's GDP grew from 103.4 billion Macao patacas ($12.82 billion) in 1999 to 416.2 billion Macao patacas in 2018. And at the end of last year, Macao's per capita GDP was $82,000, second highest in the world, with the International Monetary Fund saying it could be the highest by next year.