Macau chief executive-designate Edmund Ho Hau-wah will receive his letter of appointment from Premier Zhu Rongji at a ceremony in Beijing today. The 44-year-old banker's appointment was signed by Mr Zhu during a State Council meeting in the capital on Friday. Mr Ho flew to Beijing accompanied by the enclave's future first lady, Lau Wai-ching. Mr Ho is a vice-chairman of both Air Macau and the Macau International Airport Company but has pledged to relinquish his extensive business interests before assuming his post at midnight on December 19. He said he would start forming his future government after returning from the mainland later this week. Meanwhile, informed sources have said they expect about one-third of Macau's less than 1,000-strong PLA garrison to be stationed in the enclave. Two-thirds would be based in the Zhuhai Special Economic Zone because of Macau's tiny area - just 21 square km, or two per cent of the size of Hong Kong. The sources also said that a small PLA advance guard, possibly entering Macau shortly before the handover, would comprise just a few dozen unarmed liaison officers.