Celebration events

Besides the fireworks display, many groups in Zhuhai and Macao have jointly held a variety of activities to mark the 20th anniversary of Macao's handover.

On Dec 7, the Zhuhai and Macao youth federations jointly held an unveiling ceremony for a memorial stone in a park in Zhuhai, a symbol for the friendship of the youth in both cities and to inspire young people there to pursue new dreams.

Alex Mok, head of the Macao Youth Federation, said at the ceremony that the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and Zhuhai-Macao cooperation provide the biggest development opportunity for young people in the two cities.

"We will lead the young people in Macao to understand our motherland and get involved in the development of the Bay Area as the 20th anniversary of Macao's return now becomes a new starting point," Mok said.

On the evening of Dec 8, more than 1,000 young students from Zhuhai and Macao staged an evening party－in diverse styles including dances, choruses, martial arts and instrumental performances－to narrate the stories of Macao's return and integration with the country's development and the growth of Macao and Zhuhai.

On Dec 14, the General Union of Neighborhood Associations of Macao and the women's federation of Xiangzhou district of Zhuhai put a musical film online to showcase links between the people of Zhuhai and Macao, as well as their close relations. On Thursday, several youth federations in Zhuhai and Macao organized young people from both sides to stage flash mobs at a couple of iconic venues.

Students from Macao and Zhuhai take part in a flash mob in front of the newly built Hengqin Port in December. CHINA DAILY

Complementary growth

Given its proximity in geographical location and emotional intimacy to Macao, Zhuhai has been doing what it can to meet what Macao needs and prioritizing coordinated development with Macao in terms of rules, industrial synergy, space expansion and livelihood collaboration.

In order to support moderately diversified development of Macao, Zhuhai has explored ways to keep consistency with Macao in terms of rules and regulations.

For example, Zhuhai has had trials in the fields of cross-border offices, cross-border finance, schooling of children of the Hong Kong and Macao professionals working in Zhuhai, practices of physicians from Macao in Zhuhai, opening the social security system on a trial basis for Macao residents and cross-border legal services.

The local government focuses on six industries to meet the development demands of Macao. It comprises technological innovation, finance, healthcare and professional services as well as culture, tourism and exhibition.

Zhuhai will expand the space for manufacturing, living and promote ecological protection for Macao to solve its problems of land shortage and high development costs.