MACAO, March 15 (Xinhua) -- The government of China's Macao Special Administrative Region (SAR) on Friday decided to authorize the applications submitted by two gaming operators to extend their respective concession and sub-concession contracts until June 26, 2022, according to a statement by the government spokesperson's Office of the Macao SAR.

The SAR government has decided to authorize the extension requests by Macao Gaming Company (SJM) and MGM Grand Paradise Limited (MGM), as the uniformity of the expiry of the concession contracts will benefit the preparatory work and development of the opening of the next public tender for the concessions, the statement said.

Before the extension, the six gaming concessions would expire in 2020 and 2022 respectively, with the SJM and the MGM expiring in 2020 and the rest of the four gaming concessions expiring in 2022.

For the future development of the gaming sector, the SAR government will continue to improve the supervision and legal regime, as well as the preparatory work for the opening of the next public tender for the concessions, the statement said.

The SAR government said it would also carry out in-depth study on the current legal regime for better integration of the gaming sector and Macao's role as world tourism and leisure center, thus contributing to the sustainable development of a diversified economy, and increasing the sector's competitiveness.