Sam Hou Fai
Chief Executive of the Macau Special Administrative Region (Macau SAR)
Sam Hou Fai, aged 62, was born in Guangdong province, China. He is a former judge who served as the first President of the Court of Final Appeal of Macau from 1999 to 2024. Fluent in Portuguese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, he was sworn in as the sixth-term Chief Executive of Macau on 20 December 2024, succeeding Ho Iat Seng.
As Chief Executive, Sam Hou Fai has pledged to steer Macau’s economy away from over‑reliance on gambling, focusing on diversification while ensuring compliance with concessionaire obligations and reviewing casino operator investments. He is the first Macau Chief Executive born in mainland China and the first to speak Portuguese.
His background as a senior judge gives him deep knowledge of Macau’s legal and regulatory framework, which he now applies to the oversight of the world’s largest gaming hub. He has emphasized sustainable development, non‑gaming attractions, and alignment with national strategies under the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle.