Xi hails success of 'one country, two systems'

President Xi Jinping waves to attendees at a gathering celebrating the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region in Macao on Friday. XIE HUANCHI/XINHUA President Xi Jinping stressed on Friday long-term adherence to "one country, two systems" and urged Macao to continue with efforts to diversify its economy, as he addressed a gathering in celebration of the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland. Speaking to an audience of more than 1,000 people in a major sports stadium in Macao, Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, praised the tremendous success of practicing "one country, two systems" with Macao characteristics over the past years. "The great achievements of Macao since its return to the motherland have proven to the world that the cause of 'one country, two systems', with its distinctive institutional strengths and strong vitality, is a good system that sustains the long-term prosperity and stability of Hong Kong and Macao," he said. Macao and its neighbor Hong Kong are China's two special administrative regions governed under the "one country, two systems" policy since China resumed the exercise of sovereignty over them following long periods of Portuguese and British rule, respectively.