President Hu Jintao heaped praise on Macau's outgoing Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau-wah yesterday and promised to send a pair of pandas to the city.
Hu arrived in the former Portuguese colony at noon ahead of today's 10th anniversary of the restoration of Chinese rule. A sea of red national flags greeted his arrival in a city fired with patriotism. 'I hope to feel in person the development and changes of Macau through this visit,' he said.
Hu said the central government gave a 'high rating' to Ho, who was picked by Beijing in 1999 to run Macau, for his 10 years of service.
'You were loyal to your job, hard-working and enterprising ... the central government gives a high rating to your work and contribution to Macau and the nation,' Hu said at a meeting with Ho and his cabinet members. He lauded Ho again when delivering a speech to 670 guests at a grand banquet.
The central government 'also holds high expectations on Mr Chui Sai-on, who will assume office tomorrow, and the new term of the Macau SAR government', Hu said.
Ho's popularity has suffered from government graft and misspending scandals in the past few years, prompting speculation that central government officials were unhappy with his performance.
Hu's praise flies in the face of such criticism.