Could the global gaming capital of Macau become known for something other than casinos?
Yes, according to a senior official who has just submitted a proposal to the Chinese leadership to create a Nasdaq-style, tech-oriented stock exchange in the former Portuguese colony.
He Xiaojun, an official in the provincial financial bureau of Guangdong, which neighbors Macau, said he hoped to get approval from the national authorities by mid-December, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the city's return to China, according to the Sina Finance website.
Guangdong, home of the high-tech megacity of Shenzhen, is seeking to tap more capital for its tech companies.
Guangdong is also the center of the proposed "Greater Bay Area," which refers to the Beijing government's scheme to link nine major cities in southern China " including Hong Hong, Macau, Guangzhou and Shenzhen " into an integrated economic and business hub.
Beijing tasked Macau with carrying out a feasibility study on establishing a securities market, denominated and settled in yuan, in February when it revealed its outline development plan for the Greater Bay Area.
A yuan-based stock market could help Macau diversify away from gaming, its main revenue source.
The Monetary Authority of Macau, the city's de facto central bank, said that a feasibility study was continuing into the establishment of a securities exchange.
The chairman of the authority, Chan Sau San, said it would consider only the "long-term development" of a stock exchange in the city as there were already several mature financial centers in the region.
Although Shenzhen (home to corporate giants like Huawei and Tencent) has a stock exchange, south China's undisputed global financial center is Hong Kong, which is in its 19th consecutive week of democracy protests.
Gordon Tsui, managing director at Hantec Pacific, a securities brokerage, said Macau's aspiration to become a financial center depends on how it can truly differentiate itself from Hong Kong and Shenzhen and offer something different.
"After all, it takes decades to build up the necessary talent pool and regulatory policy regime for such a center to come about," Tsui said.
Macau, a city of about 670,000 people, returned to Chinese rule in 1999 after more than 400 years as a Portuguese colony.
It is the world's top gaming destination, having overtaken the Las Vegas Strip in annual gaming revenue back in 2006.
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