President Xi Jinping met Thursday with Ho Iat Seng, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR), saying the central authorities fully acknowledge the work of Ho and the Macao SAR government.

Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Chief Executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) Ho Iat Seng, who is here for events celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland, in Hong Kong, south China, June 30, 2022. (Xinhua/Liu Bin)

Stressing the need to maintain stability while pursuing progress, Xi urged Ho and the Macao SAR government to work tirelessly on epidemic prevention and control, consistently and effectively alleviate hardship of people's livelihood, boost economic recovery, firmly promote a moderately diversified economy, and make every effort in safeguarding social stability in Macao.

Xi arrived in Hong Kong Thursday afternoon to attend a meeting celebrating the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland and the inaugural ceremony of the sixth-term government of the Hong Kong SAR on July 1. He will also inspect the Hong Kong SAR.

Ho, also in Hong Kong for events celebrating the 25th anniversary, thanked Xi for meeting with him and vowed to make solid efforts in all aspects and resolutely safeguard the sound development of Macao.