Over 300 principal officials of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) government and representatives from all circles attend a flag-raising ceremony to mark the 5th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland in Macao, south China, on Dec. 20, 2004. Edmund Ho Hau Wah, chief executive of the Macao Special Administrative Region, presides over the ceremony. (Xinhua Photo)

A grand flag-raising ceremony to mark the 5th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland is held in the Macao Special Administrative Region, south China, on Dec. 20, 2004.  (Xinhua Photo)

Chinese President Hu Jintao attended the ceremony, where Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah and principal officials of the Macao SAR government will be sworn into office. (Xinhua Photo)

A celebration gathering marking the 5th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland and the inauguration ceremony of the second-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) began here Monday morning.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is also general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and chairman of the CPC Central Military Commission, attended the ceremony, where Chief Executive Edmund Ho Hau Wah and principal officials of the Macao SAR government will be sworn into office.

President Hu will deliver an important speech after the inauguration ceremony.

Ho's first administration has won itself a good reputation over the past five years. Ho was appointed to a second term by Premier Wen Jiabao in September this year after he gained a 99 percent support rate in the SAR's chief executive election in August. The State Council has also approved that all principal officials remain unchanged for the second-term Macao SAR government.