MACAO, Dec. 20 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said here on Saturday that the Macao people have been making vigorous efforts to implement the principle of "one country, two systems" and achieved fruitful results.

"Over the past 15 years, with the strong support of the central government and the mainland, and under the leadership of the chief executive and the government of the Special Administrative Region, people from various sectors in Macao have united as one," said the president at a celebration gathering.

Macao is having increasingly closer exchanges and cooperation with the mainland and continuing to make its unique contribution to the reform, opening-up and modernization drive of the motherland while sharing the opportunities and benefits brought by development of the mainland, the president noted.