For the first time, the Macau casino hub chooses a mainland Chinese-born CEO | News

Former judge Sam Hou Fai received 394 votes out of 398 cast in an election in which he was the only candidate.

Former judge Sam Hou Fai has been elected chief executive-designate of Macau, China’s special administrative region, becoming the leader of the casino-dominated territory next to Hong Kong.

According to a statement on the government website, Sam received 394 votes out of 398 cast in an election that lasted about an hour and 35 minutes on Sunday.

He is the territory’s first leader born in mainland China. Critics fear that this will give Beijing’s agenda priority over business interests.

After being announced as Chief Executive-elect, Sam took the stage and received applause from committee members. “It is the highest honor of my life,” said the 62-year-old.

He promised to preserve national sovereignty, accelerate the city’s economic diversification and better integrate it into national development plans.

Sam’s appointment as CEO for a five-year term must be approved by the Chinese central government.

“This was a one-candidate election. Ordinary residents here can’t vote,” Al Jazeera’s Laura Westbrook reported from Macau. “Some people I spoke to didn’t even know there was an election today.”

Sam was born in 1962 in southern China’s Guangdong Province. He graduated from the prestigious Peking University Law School in Beijing.

He also studied Portuguese language, culture and law at the University of Coimbra in Portugal and once practiced law in mainland China.

Macau is the only place in China where casino gambling is legal. Beijing has urged the city to diversify its gambling-dependent economy.

“He [Sam] is the first leader of Macau who does not have a business background, and he has made some pretty strong comments about the gambling industry here – where he says he wants to diversify it away from gambling,” said Al Jazeera’s Westbrook.

Sam has promised to accelerate the current government’s plan to promote tourism and other sectors such as traditional Chinese medicine, finance, exhibitions and trade.

However, the city will continue to rely on the gambling industry to generate government revenue to support the city’s well-being and achieve other goals set by Beijing, analysts say.

China wants Macau to develop into a world-class tourism and leisure center and play a greater role as a bridge for trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries.