According to a paper jointly compiled by three scholars from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Research Institute, the Shandong University, and the University of Macau – Edmund Sheng Li, Zhang Anning, and Yin Yechang, the city will have to address a number of social issues “neglected because of the illusion of ongoing prosperity” brought about by the gaming industry that experienced explosive growth following the city’s return to Chinese rule.

These issues, as the ‘A city profile of Macau—The rise and fall of a casino city’ scholars pointed out, are associated with political transformation, livelihoods, governance, and urban planning.

The economic recession that accompanied the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as Beijing’s push for an overhaul of the gaming sector, have made it “impossible” for Macau authorities to maintain the “status quo” or implement reforms at a slow pace, the research concluded.

The three scholars also said that the local authorities would find itself in a situation where its ability to control fiscal spending was compromised amidst an expected decline in casino revenue.

Meanwhile, risks are likely to mount as the development of burgeoning industries – namely modern finance, healthcare, high technology, MICE, sports and culture in cooperation with Hengqin – will require increased government investment.

“In the context of the development of the Hengqin Guangdong–Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone, along with the demands and expectations of Beijing and of Macau citizens regarding international participation, political and administrative reforms, and improved living standards, the Macau government is likely to face unprecedented challenges in the foreseeable future,” the paper read.

The scholars also suggested that Macau – a special administrative region granted certain freedoms not enjoyed on the Chinese mainland – improve its governance and tap into the autonomy handed by Beijing under the ‘one country, two systems’ formula to complete the shake-up of those industries amid internal and external pressure.

By Aries Un