China’s head representative in Macau dies after falling off building

Reports that Zheng Xiaosong was suffering from depression

Zheng Xiaosong, secretary of the Fujian Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), speaks during a meeting in Fuzhou, Fujian (REUTERS)

China's head representative to Macau has died after falling from his residential building, the government announced.

The exact cause of 59-year-old Zheng Xiaosong’s death is not known, but he was apparently suffering from depression, according to the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office of China's State Council.

Mr Zheng, the director of China's liaison office in semi-autonomous Macau, died on 20 October at the building where he lived.

He assumed his post last September and was part of the ruling Communist Party's elite Central Committee.

A notice on the liaison office's website said Mr Zheng was still working on Friday, when he met with representatives of a think tank.

There is nothing to suggest that Mr Zheng had come under the watch of China’s anti-corruption crackdown, although a number of Chinese officials who have done have died in suspicious circumstances.

Like Hong Kong, Macau has a separate legal system from mainland China.

The former Portuguese territory's economy has boomed over the past decade as supercharged growth in the casino industry transformed the seedy backwater into a glitzy gambling powerhouse.

Agencies contributed to this report