The application for the candidacy of deputies from the Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) to the Ninth National People's Congress (NPC), China's highest legislature, ended in Macao on January 22.

By 6:00 p.m., a total of 31 Macao residents with Chinese citizenship had turned in their applications and 24 of them managed to collect enough numbers of nominations from members of the electoral conference which is composed of some 200 local residents. "The application has been going on smoothly since January 8, and residents from various social sectors have been active in getting registered," said Leong Heng Teng, a member of the presidium of the electoral conference.

According to Leong, the presidium will hold a meeting on January 24 to examine the qualifications of 24 applicants who have collected enough nominations and then announce the list of candidates for NPC deputies.

As seven NPC deputies shall be elected from the Macao SAR, the electoral conference will have to elect 10 formal candidates on January 26 . And the final election will be held on January 28, Leong said.