Chinese President Xi Jinping will preside over a day of celebrations in Macau and inaugurate the city’s new leader on Friday as the former colony marks 25 years since being returned to China.Macau is regarded by China as a shining example of its “One Country, Two Systems” model, and Xi praised the city as a “pearl in the nation’s palm” at the start of his three-day visit.The Chinese casino hub has grown from a Portuguese trading outpost to the world’s casino capital by gaming revenue and a popular destination for Chinese tourists.When Macau reverted to Chinese rule on December 20, 1999, Beijing promised that the city’s “capitalist system and way of life shall remain unchanged for 50 years”.Celebrations kicked off Friday morning with a flag-raising ceremony at the city’s Lotus Square, with incoming city leader Sam Hou-fai, Macau government ministers and some visiting Chinese officials in attendance.Xi has lauded Macau’s “world-recognised success” in implementing the “One Country, Two Systems” framework and said the city had a bright future.”Macau is a pearl in the nation’s palm, and I have always kept in my thoughts its development and the welfare of all its people,” Xi said Wednesday.He has vowed to use his trip for “extensive and in-depth exchanges with our friends from all places, and discuss plans for Macau’s development”.Friday’s festivities will be centred around the inauguration of Sam, the former president of Macau’s apex court, as the city’s fourth post-handover leader, replacing Ho Iat-seng.Security was tight around the city, with roadblocks set up around an event venue and authorities increasing checks on inbound visitors.- Casino hub -Following the end of 442 years of Portuguese rule, Macau’s fortunes have risen in lockstep with China’s economic growth.It is the only place in China where casino gambling is permitted and has long surpassed Las Vegas as the world’s top casino hub, fuelled by two decades of Chinese visitor spending.Macau, which has a resident population of 687,000, saw just over 29 million visitor arrivals in the first 10 months of the year.Its GDP has soared from $6.4 billion in 1999 to more than $47 billion last year, and its population is the richest in China on a per capita basis.Under orders from Beijing to diversify the economy, Macau leaders have suggested financial services, technology and Chinese medicine as new economic drivers.But as of November, gaming-related taxes still made up 81 percent of government revenue and experts say Macau is years away from weaning itself off casino wealth.Xi on Thursday visited the Macau University of Science and Technology and was “briefed on the development of two state-level key laboratories” that involved Chinese medicine and planetary science, according to state news agency Xinhua.He also visited the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone on Hengqin Island, speaking to residents and people there in charge of planning, construction, management and services, Xinhua reported.Hengqin Island, a landmass adjacent to Macau and three times its size, was partly leased by Beijing to Macau to boost its land supply for non-gaming development.

Japanese inflation accelerated in November, with prices rising 2.7 percent on-year partly due to higher energy costs, government data showed Friday.The core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which excludes volatile fresh food prices, topped market expectations and was up from 2.3 percent in October.It remained above the Bank of Japan’s key two percent inflation target, set over a decade ago as part of efforts to boost the stagnant economy.The two-percent target has been surpassed every month since April 2022, although central bank policymakers have sometimes questioned the role of temporary factors such as the war in Ukraine.Analysts had forecast a core CPI reading of 2.6 percent for November. “Core core CPI”, which excludes both fresh food and energy prices, stood at 2.4 percent.The Bank of Japan on Thursday left its borrowing costs unchanged in a policy decision, warning of uncertainty over the US economy under president-elect Donald Trump.That caused the yen to fall against the dollar, extending a retreat that began Wednesday when the Federal Reserve forecast it would make fewer interest rate cuts.On Friday morning, one dollar bought 157.61 yen, compared with about 153.60 on Wednesday.”Despite the pause, the BoJ appears determined to tighten policy further,” said Stefan Angrick of Moody’s Analytics.”The central bank’s monetary policy statement maintains a fairly hawkish tone, arguing that the economy is recovering and will keep growing above its potential rate — a view that feels at odds with the data,” he said.Weak demand has been a drag on growth for Japan, and it’s likely that data will show the economy shrinking in 2024, Angrick said, adding that the bank faced a tricky situation.”The domestic economy isn’t strong enough for significant rate hikes, but maintaining the status quo risks further yen depreciation and higher inflation,” he said.”We anticipate two more rate hikes in 2025.”

Global stocks mostly fell Thursday as markets digested fresh central bank decisions and a rebound effort on Wall Street faded while US Treasury bond yields climbed further.US indices bounced early in the day, but the attempted rally faded as the yield on the 10-year US Treasury note rose above 4.5 percent. The Fed on Wednesday lowered interest rates but signaled it expects fewer interest rate cuts in 2025.Thursday’s move in stocks is “kind of a lackluster recovery effort,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.”A lot of good news has been priced into this market,” he said. “And now the market is going to sit back and see if a lot of that good news that’s priced in actually comes to fruition.”While major US indices finished little changed, equity markets in Europe and Asia retreated.The Bank of England held its key interest rate steady due to UK inflation rising again, and it did not commit to when or by how much it would cut rates in 2025.While that decision was widely expected, more BoE policymakers voted for a cut, which sent the pound falling against the dollar and the euro.The split suggests “members may be more nervous about the state of the economy than originally thought,” said Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.The yen fell against the dollar after the Bank of Japan left borrowing costs unchanged and warned of uncertainty over the economic policies of US President-elect Donald Trump.BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda told reporters after its announcement that officials would hike interest rates if prices and the Japanese economy develop as they expect.He warned that “uncertainty surrounding economic policies by the upcoming (Trump) administration is high, so I believe we will need to size up the possible effect.””The upcoming administration’s financial, trade and immigration policies have the potential not only to affect the US economy and prices but also significantly impact the global economy” and financial markets, Ueda said.The rate decisions by Britain’s and Japan’s central bank were the last of the year.”With the major risk events of the week behind us, the question remains: will the traditional Santa rally take hold, or will 2024 mark a departure from the norm?” asked City Index and FOREX.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.Markets often drift higher at the end of the year when small investors influenced by the holidays dominate trading in what is often called a “Santa rally.”A possible US government shutdown could spoil a Santa rally, but investors appeared unfazed on Thursday.President-elect Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk urged Republican lawmakers to scupper a cross-party deal to avert a halt in non-essential US government operations in the early hours of Saturday.But Trump announced on social media Thursday afternoon that Republicans had come up with a new funding package to avert a shutdown.- Key figures around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: UP less than 0.1 percent at 42,342.24 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 5,867.08 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 19,372.77 (close) London – FTSE 100: DOWN 1.1 percent at 8,105.32 (close) Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 1.2 percent at 7,294.37 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 1.4 percent at 19,969.86 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.7 percent at 38,813.58 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 0.6 percent at 19,752.51 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.4 percent at 3,370.03 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0364 from $1.0353 Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2496 from $1.2574Dollar/yen: UP at 157.35 yen from 156.87 yen Euro/pound: UP at 82.91 pence from 82.33 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.7 percent at $72.88 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 1.0 percent at $69.91 per barrelburs-jmb/aha

Macau on Friday will welcome a new leader who has criticised the “barbaric expansion” of the casino industry and vowed to diversify the city’s economy to align it with China’s development goals.Sam Hou-fai, 62, is set to be sworn in as Macau’s next chief executive on Friday by Chinese President Xi Jinping, after a one-horse race in October where he was chosen by a committee of 400 pro-establishment figures.His inauguration will coincide with the 25th anniversary of the former Portuguese colony being handed over to China under a “One Country, Two Systems” framework that promised autonomy and a separate legal system.Sam spent his entire post-handover career as president of Macau’s Court of Final Appeal, the city’s top court.Despite that, he has admitted to being relatively unknown in the city — which he said was proof that judges were independent.Unlike the three chief executives before him, Sam was born in mainland China and does not have a background in business. He moved to Macau in 1986 to work for the colonial administration.Beijing has for years ordered Macau to diversify its economy and grow non-gaming industries. But as of November, gaming-related taxes still make up 81 percent of government revenue.Announcing his leadership bid in August, Sam said there had been “a period of disorderly development and barbaric expansion” by the tourism and casino industries.”This situation of having one dominant industry is unfavourable to the long-term development of Macau and brings a huge negative impact,” he said at a press conference.He later dialed down his criticism and said that the gaming sector will not shrink or be shut down under his administration, adding that “healthy and orderly development” was needed.Sam, who studied law at China’s elite Peking University and later in Portugal, rose through the ranks as Macau’s last colonial government sought to localise its civil service in the late 1980s.Jorge Rangel, the ex-minister in charge of that localisation effort, recalled Sam as a “quiet type of person” who was “very young when he was appointed senior judge in Macau”.Having joined the judiciary in 1995, Sam was fast-tracked to the top post just four years later and he “accepted his position very well.””He knew that it was a very big challenge for him,” Rangel told AFP.As top judge, Sam presided over trials of corrupt Macau officials.- Dissent stifled -When neighbouring Hong Kong was rocked by huge pro-democracy protests in 2019, Beijing also clamped down on dissent in Macau — a trend reflected in the courts.”(Sam’s) judicial style is literalism: he will rule based on how the law was written,” University of Macau scholar Ieong Meng-u told AFP.But in some cases, “the authorities had already decided to do something, and they needed to find the legal grounds”, Ieong said.In 2021, Sam was widely panned for a ruling that outlawed a peaceful candlelight vigil held to commemorate the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown.The same year, Sam and his fellow judges ruled in favour of the Macau authorities’ decision to disqualify 21 pro-democracy candidates from running for the city’s legislature.As a policymaking novice, Sam will have to contend with an economy that has not fully recovered from the heavy blow dealt by the coronavirus pandemic and long-running livelihood concerns.Despite being a native of Zhongshan in southern China, Sam has described himself as a “being from old Macau” and dismissed criticisms that he is out of touch.On the streets of Macau, one resident told AFP that he was hopeful about Sam’s administration.”I believe that he has much better administrative and judicial experiences, unlike his predecessors,” said Lau, a retired civil servant in his seventies who only gave his surname.”He will run a tighter ship and be fairer, at least that’s my hope.”