The Macao Region, including the Macao Peninsula, Taipa Island and Coloane Island, is located south of Guangdong Province at the western bank of the Pearl River Estuary. It is contiguous to Gongpei of Zhuhai City, lying close to the South China Sea in the south. It is separated by a river from Wanchai of Zhuhai City in the west and faces Hong Kong in the east by the sea, with a distance of 42 nautical miles. There are passenger services of jet and other steamers between the two places. Its total area covers 23.5 square kilometers. The Macao Peninsular, Taipa Island and Coloane Island are connected by the Friendship Bridge, Macao-Taipa Bridge and a highway. Being subtropical in the typhoon zone, Macao has a warm and humid weather with plenty of rainfall. Macao has a population of 420,000 , of whom 97% are Chinese, 11,000 locally-born Portuguese and over 2,000 Portuguese.

2) Political structure

The present political structure was formed in accordance with "the Organic Statue of Portugal" promulgated by Portugal in l976. While the governor of Macao has always been appointed by the Portuguese president and Macao's judiciary is governed by Portuguese laws, the Macao regional government enjoys autonomy in the administrative, economic, financial and legislative affairs. Now Macao is gradually moving towards achieving judicial independence. It has set up a high court and except for individual cases, normally final adjudication is made in local courts. The sovereign organs of Portugal are represented in the territory by the governor (According to "the Organic Statue of Portugal", the governor is equivalent to a minister of the Portuguese government).

At present, the Portuguese Macao government consists of the Governor and seven Secretaries (Secretary for Economic Coordination, Secretary for Transport and Public Works, Secretary for Justice, Secretary for Social Affairs and Budget, Secretary for Administration, Education and Youth, Secretary for Public Security and Secretary for Communications, Tourism and Culture). The Constitution of Portugal provides that the Portuguese Macao Government is accountable to the Portuguese President.

The Macao Legislative Assembly comprises 23 members, 8 elected directly, 8 indirectly, 7 appointed by the Governor. Members serve for four years. The present 6th Legislative Assembly was formed in September, l996. Both the Assembly and Governor have legislative powers.

The Macao Consultative Council is a consultative organ for the Governor, who nominates the members. The Council is made up of senior officials of the Portuguese Macao government and celebrities from all circles in Macao.

Economy

Macao is a free port. It used to have such handicraft industries as firecrackers, matches and incense burners for worships, with gambling as the mainstay over many years. From mid-l960's to mid-l980's, with the rapid growth of Macao's economy led by the export-oriented manufacturing industry, a multiple economic structure came into being with the export-oriented manufacturing industry, tourist and casino industry, financial industry, real estate and building industry as the pillar. Beginning from the l990's Macao's economy entered a period of readjustment with its growth rate slowing down. In l998, the annual total volume of output was about 56.2 billion Pat, a drop by 6.3% from 1997. The import and export trade volume totaled 32.7 billion Pat, a drop by 3% from l997. The volume of export was l7.l billion Pat and that of import 15.6 billion Pat, striking a favorable trade balance of l.5 billion Pat. The tourist industry also witnessed a zero growth. A total of 6.95 million people toured Macao, representing a decrease of 0.7% from l997. At the end of l998, bank savings reached 101.001 billion Pat, an increase of 7.2% from l997. Bank loans reached 53.893 billion Pat, a drop by 1.08% from l997. The rate of inflation stood at 0.17%, a drop by 3.33% from l997. The rate of unemployment climbed to 5.4%, an increase of 2.2% from l997.

The Basic Law of the MSAR

On April 13, l988, the First Plenary Session of the Seventh National People's Congress decided to set up the Drafting Committee for the Basic Law of the Macao Special Administrative Region with the responsibility of drafting the Basic Law. Starting from the first plenary meeting on October 25, l988, nine plenary meetings and seventy-two meetings on special subjects have been held by the Drafting Committee. And, after seeking the views and opinions of the residents and people of all circles in Macao, a draft text of the Basic Law was submitted to the National People's Congress for examination. The Basic Law and its Annexes were adopted at the First Session of the Eighth National People's Congress on March 31, l993. On that day, President Jiang Zemin promulgated a presidential decree (No. 3) for the Basic Law to go into effect on December 20, l999. It took four years and five months from the drafting to the publication of the Basic Law. It underwent a process of gradual development and perfection on the basis of seeking views from and pooling the wisdom of the people from all walks of life, representing the crystallization of collective wisdom. The Basic Law has received warm support and acclamation from people of all circles in Macao since its publication.

The Basic Law of Macao, which entered into force on December 20, l999, is a constitutional law for the Macao Special Administration Region. It is a fundamental norm, which all aspects of social life in Macao will go by. With the Basic Law of Macao, the concepts of "one country, two systems", "the people of Macao administering Macao" and the policy of high autonomy have become legalized with specific implementation. Specifying in an all-round way the systems to be practiced in the MSAR, the Basic Law guaranteed China's implementation of its policies on Macao, while providing a legal basis on which the MSAR will formulate various policies within the scope of its autonomy. All exchanges and cooperation between China's different regions and governmental departments and the MSAR must be carried out in strict accordance with relevant articles of the Basic Law.