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HONG KONG - CHINESE Vice President Xi Jinping urged Macau to diversify its economy as the gaming hub continues to suffer from falling tourist numbers amid the global financial crisis, reports said on Sunday.
'We should leave room for adequate diversification and properly handle the relationship between development and conservation,' Mr Xi said during a two-day official visit to the city, according to a report in Hong Kong's Sunday Morning Post.
Gambling constitutes the main source of revenue for Macau. But the financial crisis and dwindling traveller numbers have brought many large casino projects to a halt in recent months.
Contrary to speculation that he would announce a relaxation of restrictions on mainlanders visiting Macau - where they make up the the bulk of visitors to the casinos - Mr Xi was silent on the gaming business, the Post and Chinese-language newspapers said.
Instead, Mr Xi said the development of the Chinese island of Hengqin, three times the size of Macau and just off its Cotai Strip gambling and entertainment district, would soon begin and offer room for the city's broader development.
'Macau's need for diversification will be carefully considered in the development of Hengqin,' he said, according to the Post, adding that he had visited the island with Guangdong provincial governor Huang Huahua on Friday.
Macau, which arguably has the world's highest population density with 557,000 residents squeezed into 29 square kilometres of land, has long been eyeing the island as a solution to its population problem.
China toughened visa policies for visitors from the mainland to Macau late last year in an effort to cool growth. The move resulted in a 10 per cent drop in the city's gaming revenues for the third quarter, according to Macau's Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. -- AFP
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