Beijing officials responsible for Macau affairs on Sunday offered their congratulations to the SAR's former top judge, Sam Hou-fai, on winning the Chief Executive race.

Sam took 394 out of 400 votes from the Election Committee, with four blank votes and two members absent.

The Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said the result indicates that the Macau society widely recognises Sam's character, vision, ability and style.

"The election process and result...are significant in the full implementation of the principle of 'patriots governing Macau', and further pushing forward the successful implementation of the One Country, Two Systems principle with Macau characteristics," the office said in a statement.

Beijing's Liaison Office in Macau, meanwhile, noted that this was the first CE poll since amendments were made to the electoral laws in Macau.

It described the election as open, fair, impartial, legal, smooth and orderly.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee, also congratulated Sam for his victory.

He described the two SARs as core cities in the Greater Bay Area that serve as engines for regional development.

"I have every confidence in working closely with Mr Sam in the future to achieve complementarity and mutual benefits for Hong Kong and [Macau], giving full play to the cities' strengths to serve the country's needs," Lee said in a statement.