MACAO -- President Xi Jinping said Friday that "one country, two systems" is a good policy that must be adhered to for a long time.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing a gathering held in the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) to mark the 25th anniversary of Macao's return to the motherland.

The great achievements of Macao since its return have proven to the world that "one country, two systems" has prominent institutional strengths and tremendous vitality.

It is a good policy that helps maintain long-term prosperity and stability in Hong Kong and Macao, a good policy that serves the noble cause of building a stronger country and achieving national rejuvenation, and a good policy that helps realize peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between different social systems, he said.

The values of peace, inclusiveness, openness and sharing embodied in the policy are shared by China and the rest of the world, and deserve to be jointly safeguarded, Xi noted.

To achieve better development of Hong Kong and Macao and make greater contributions to building a stronger country and advancing national rejuvenation is an important mission of the practice of "one country, two systems" in the new era, he said.

Xi urged the new government of the Macao SAR to better leverage the institutional advantages of "one country, two systems" and open up new prospects for the high-quality development of the "one country, two systems" cause.