Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (MSAR), left here on Thursday for the Boao Forum slated to be held from April 22 to 23 in Boao, south China's Hainan Province.

A press release issued by the Information Bureau said the chief executive, on the sidelines of the forum, is to meet Chinese Vice President Zeng Qinghong.

Ho is also to pay visits to Haikou and Sanya, two key cities of China's southern most island province of Hainan, said the release, adding that he is also to meet Wei Liucheng, the provincial governor.

The annual Boao Forum for Asia conference this year will carry the theme of "new opportunities for Asia". Some 800 world political and business leaders are expected to attend the forum.

(Xinhua News Agency April 21, 2006)