Xi's visit boosts efficient, public services in SAR

For 39-year-old Chu Weng-san, if she has the opportunity to meet President Xi Jinping again, she would definitely share the rapid developments in Macao's public services since Xi's visit in 2019, particularly the booming array of self-services that has significantly improved the accessibility of government services.

Five years ago, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland, President Xi visited Chu's workplace — the special administrative region's first "one-stop" government services center.

As an employee at the Macao Government Services Centre in Areia Preta, Chu vividly remembers the details of the morning of Dec 19, 2019, when she personally explained the center's operations to Xi.

The center, inaugurated in 2009, currently houses 27 government departments, offering 330 "one-stop" public services for locals, covering key areas such as civil affairs, social welfare, government information, investment and taxation. The other similar comprehensive service center of the city was established in 2019 in Taipa.

Chu has been working in the building in Areia Preta since its opening, accumulating 15 years of service. Previously a front desk receptionist at the facility, Chu now serves as the functional coordinator of different departments.

On the day of Xi's visit, she was among the staff members receiving him. "When I saw President Xi in person, I was truly excited. He greeted all of us with a smile, and shook our hands, leaving a warm and friendly first impression," Chu said.

She recalled that Xi spent about half an hour exploring the different services on the three floors, including taxes and social security, while Chu mainly explained the second floor's identity-related services, a crucial part of the electronic services Xi was interested in at that time, where he observed the working procedures and conversed with some locals.

Xi praised the Macao government's integration of technologies to achieve refined and efficient social governance, which reflects a people-centered approach. During his visit, he also observed the continuous improvement in the lives of Macao people and the historic changes of the SAR since its return to the motherland.

After five years of development, although the layout of the center remains unchanged, the services it offers have increased and become more intelligent.

Apart from e-services, ongoing optimizations have been made in queue management, interdepartmental cooperation and data information sharing.

The center, located in a densely populated area with convenient bus routes, serves over 3,000 people daily.

Chu and her colleagues are also constantly brainstorming ways to better serve the people and actively communicate with higher authorities to propose upgrades and optimizations of the system.

Huang Wei-xuan, 52, who lives nearby, visited the building to process her passport through self-service offerings.

She used to handle various services at the facility, including social security and identity cards, and appreciates the convenience of the new self-service options with the photos that are produced.

"It only takes a minute," Huang said, describing the current processing speed as very fast, whereas five years ago, she had to wait in line for at least half an hour.

The improvements at the center also reflect the overall progress of public services in Macao. Since 2023, nine 24-hour self-service facilities have been established for the public to handle various government services at any time, including the two newly established in the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin this year.

Chu highlighted the introduction of smart document lockers in the self-service centers, allowing residents to reserve physical documents online and collect them at any time without waiting in line.

Launched in 2019, the Macao One Account e-government mobile application has 580,000 registered users and offers more than 360 online services for local residents. Additionally, the government has also introduced similar e-platforms to benefit enterprises and organizations.

Since July, local residents can even use the Macao One Account to generate QR codes for entering and leaving Hong Kong, eliminating the need to use identity cards.

Chu noted that the meeting with Xi has offered great motivation for her and her colleagues to work harder to pursue improvement. In the future, she will continue to prioritize the wellbeing of Macao residents, striving to provide them with more convenient and high-quality public services.