In the ceremony marking the 20th anniversary of Macao's return to China, Chinese President Xi Jinping highlighted Macao's successful transition, and called on Macao to “combine its own situation with our national strategies (and) seize the opportunities of the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the Greater Bay Area construction, so that it can give full play to its strengths and become more competitive.”

Meanwhile, Hong Kong, another city observing the practice of “one country, two systems,” which celebrated its 22nd anniversary of returning to China a few months ago, remains wracked by unrest.

Victor Teo, an Affiliated Faculty with the China Studies Program at the University of Hong Kong, outlined to CGTN during its show 'The Heat,' some of the reasons we see differences across these two cities.