The councils and assemblies of the municipalities of Macau were abolished on 1 January 2002, and their functions transferred to the Instituto para os Assuntos Civicos e Municipais, slightly more than 2 years after Macau became a special administrative region of the People's Republic of China. They had been put in place under the administration of Portugal.
The current administrative body is the Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau under the Secretariat for Administration and Justice of the SAR government.
History
After the reunification with the People's Republic of China in 1999, these structures were kept provisionally in place: the Provisional Municipal Council of Macau, the Provisional Municipal Council of the Islands of each municipality.
The Portuguese-era coat-of-arms, with two angels as heraldic supporters, was changed to a simpler design of a key with two birds as supporters.
On 31 December 2001, all the provisional organs were dissolved and the new Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau took on the role of the provisional municipal councils, starting from 1 January 2002, under the Secretariat for Administration and Justice of the SAR government.
