Speaking at a luncheon hosted by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Singapore International Chamber of Commerce, Ho said Macao enjoys a high degree of autonomy, its existing capitalist system will remain intact and the area continues to be a free port and a separate customs territory, Ho said.

"Our national leaders in Beijing have given us their maximum support since the reunification," Ho said.

However, he added, "it has been made clear time and again that it is up to us in Macao to chart our own course in line with our political constitution, the Macao Basic Law."

"We all deeply cherish the memory of Mr. Deng Xiaoping and his great political vision and extraordinary wisdom that created the right way for the peaceful settlement of the questions of Hong Kong, Macao and eventually Taiwan," he said.

He said everything that has happened in Macao since its return to China rests on the shoulders of all its residents and the body politic -- the government, the legislature, the judiciary -- and its several hundred community, business and labor associations.

A special chapter of the Basic Law protects the existing capitalist economic and monetary system, he said.

Consequently, Ho said, Macao continues to pursue a policy of free enterprise and free trade, including the free movement of goods, assets and capital.

On Macao's economic outlook, Ho said there are signs that the recession is finally bottoming out as Macao's total export value rose 13.8 percent to US$1.15 billion in the first six months this year.

The number of visitor arrivals reached 5.2 million in the first seven months of the year, an increase of 21.6 percent over the same period of last year, according to Ho.

Earlier Thursday, Ho met with Singapore Minister for Communications and Information Technology Yeo Cheow Tong and was briefed on Singapore's experience in developing information technology.

(People's Daily)