A golden autumn bears rich fruit as Fujian and Macao renew their bonds. On 12 October 2026, the Fujian–Macao Cultural Tourism and Investment Promotion Conference of the 19th Macao A-Ma (Mazu) Cultural and Tourism Festival was successfully held. O Lam, Macao’s Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, and Jiang Erxiong, Vice Governor of Fujian Province, attended and delivered speeches. More than 1,000 people gathered for the event, including officials from the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR, the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macao SAR, the Macao office of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, relevant departments of the Macao SAR Government, the General Office of the Fujian Provincial People’s Government, the Department of Culture and Tourism of Fujian Province and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the Fujian Provincial People’s Government, together with representatives of Mazu temples from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macao, the Taiwan region and overseas, and of Fujian cultural and tourism enterprises. Through cultural tourism promotion, presentations on the investment environment and arts performances, the event sought to advance Fujian–Macao cooperation in cultural tourism, the economy and trade, and to deepen people-to-people exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, with Hong Kong and Macao, and between China and the wider world.

In her speech, O Lam said the Macao A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival, now in its 19th edition, has steadily grown in influence and become an important platform for promoting Chinese culture and fostering people-to-people exchanges. This year’s event combines the heritage of Mazu culture with cultural tourism and investment promotion, making it both a cultural celebration and an important opportunity for Fujian and Macao to deepen practical cooperation. She expressed the hope that the two sides would jointly build the Mazu culture brand, drawing on Fujian’s Mazu cultural resources and Macao’s international strengths to create a “Macao + Fujian” cultural tourism cooperation system, jointly develop Mazu-themed tourism routes and build platforms for cultural exchange, sharing resources and shaping the brand together so that Mazu culture shines anew in the new era. She called for closer links between cultural tourism, the economy and trade, leveraging the policy advantages of Macao as a free port and of the Hengqin cooperation zone together with Fujian’s industrial base and market hinterland, strengthening cooperation in culture, education, tourism and commerce, and attracting more international resources to both places in service of the country’s high-standard opening up. She also proposed building a hub for nurturing and attracting talent, using the strengths of universities in Fujian and Macao to set up platforms for academic exchange, youth internships and innovation practice in areas such as cultural exchange, international trade and the science and technology industries, so that the two places can jointly attract high-end international talent and use talent as the engine for a new chapter in Fujian–Macao cooperation.

In her speech, Jiang Erxiong said the Macao A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival is an important cultural vehicle for passing on Mazu beliefs and customs, connecting Fujian and Macao and bringing together Chinese people at home and abroad. This year’s festival incorporates the Fujian–Macao cooperation mechanism for the first time, with the Fujian Provincial People’s Government serving as a co-organiser, making it both a folk celebration of fine traditional Chinese culture and a valuable opportunity to deepen people-to-people ties and coordinated development of cultural tourism, the economy and trade between Fujian and Macao. She expressed the hope that the two sides would continue the bond of Mazu culture and carry forward its core spirit of “establishing virtue, doing good and boundless love”, drawing on Fujian’s resources as the birthplace of Mazu culture and making good use of the festival to deepen exchanges in Mazu beliefs and customs and between performing arts troupes, strengthen the spiritual foundation of close kinship and shared cultural roots, tell the story of Mazu culture in the new era well, and let “culture set the stage for trade”. She called for expanding cultural tourism cooperation by amplifying the “Clean Fresh Fujian” and “Experience Macao” brands; implementing the cooperation agreements signed at the Fujian–Macao High-Level Meeting and the Fifth Fujian–Macao Cooperation Conference in August this year; promoting each other’s tourism and jointly opening up overseas visitor markets; and deepening the strategic links between Fujian as the core area of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road and Macao’s “One Centre, One Platform, One Base” positioning. She also called for two-way coordinated development and a broader pattern of external cooperation, seizing the opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative and the development of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area, with Fujian and Macao “sailing out together in the same boat” and expanding practical exchanges in integrating culture and tourism, sending visitors to each other and jointly promoting their brands.

At the conference, Lin Yu, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Culture and Tourism of Fujian Province, gave a presentation on Fujian’s cultural tourism covering its natural scenery, diverse cultural heritage, lively folk customs and business and investment environment. The presentation vividly showcased the unique charm of “Clean Fresh Fujian, a Land of Blessings”, warmly invited people from all sectors of Macao to visit Fujian for sightseeing and fact-finding trips, and expressed the hope that the two places would deepen the two-way flow of visitors and the joint creation of new business formats, sharing the dividends of high-quality cultural tourism development. The department also released a three-year “Welcome Home” action plan for overseas Chinese, which features six themed activities around festival invitations, root-seeking trips for young people, cultural tourism experiences and industry matchmaking, as well as a range of benefits for visitors. Through practical measures such as cultural tourism benefit cards, hotel and air ticket discounts and premium tourism routes, it warmly invites overseas Chinese to return to Fujian to trace their roots, sightsee, invest and start businesses. The presentation drew an enthusiastic response and built broad consensus on Fujian–Macao cultural tourism cooperation.

With culture as the medium, the arts conveyed shared feelings. At the dinner, a themed showcase titled “New Voices of Fujian Music” was staged. The Fujian Song and Dance Theatre and other arts troupes presented highlights including the symphonic audiovisual work “Mazu Through the Ages”, the song-and-dance pieces “Mazu Keeps Us Safe” and “I’ll Be Waiting for You in Fujian”, and the acrobatic dance “Memories of Rain in Fujian Lanes”, alongside a medley of classic songs such as “Song of the Seven Sons” and “Only Those Who Strive Will Win”. Taiwanese singer Wang Chien-chieh also took the stage, and a promotional video for the original dance drama “Mazu” premiered at the event. The melodious music and graceful staging told the story of Mazu culture, fully expressing the deep bonds of Fujian and Macao as one family and drawing round after round of applause from the guests.

Other officiating guests at the event included Yang Weiqun, Deputy Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Macao SAR; Zhang He, Director of the Consular Department of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Macao SAR; Cheong Chok Man, Director of the Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau of Macao; Leong Wai Man, President of the Cultural Affairs Bureau; Lei Chou Sam, Acting President of the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute; Cheng Wai Tong, Deputy Director of the Macao Government Tourism Office; Zhong Yi, Vice-President of the Macao Foundation; Wang Bing, Director of the Macao office of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits; Yiu Chi-shing, Member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and President of the Hong Kong Association for Promotion of Peaceful Reunification of China; Lin Pin-kuan, Chairman of Taiwan’s Non-Partisan Solidarity Union; Ngan In Leng, President of the Goddess A-Ma Foundation of Macau; and Chan Meng Kam, Chairman, and Ngan Iek Peng, Executive Chairman, of the Organising Committee of the 19th Macao A-Ma Cultural and Tourism Festival.

Source: Department of Culture and Tourism of Fujian Province. Photos: Department of Culture and Tourism of Fujian Province.