Banker Edmund Ho Hau-wah will take up the post of chief executive of Macau on 20 December, when it becomes a special administrative region of China.

Mr Ho won by 163 votes to 34

"Rest assured, I will first handle the peace and order problem," said Mr Ho, who beat rival Stanley Au in a ballot held by a China-selected committee.

"The future Macau will definitely adopt effective measures to combat triad and crime problems," he said.

Macau has been in the grip of a triad turf war, with 15 deaths this year alone.

The gangs are attracted by illegal activities on the edges of the gambling sector, which dominates the local economy.

Popular choice

Mr Ho is seen by many as the obvious person to lead Macau, says BBC Beijing Correspondent Jill McGivering.

The Portuguese President, Jorge Sampaio, said Mr Ho's election was "good news": "He is very well equipped to meet the new challenges that the special administrative region of Macao will face."

He is relatively young for a Chinese leader, but has 15 years' political experience.

He is a meber and vice-president of Macau's indirectly-elected Legislative Assembly, and is on the standing committee of the National People's Congress in Beijing.

He is director and general manager of the family-run Tai Fung bank, and has a business degree from York University in Toronto, Canada.

His father Ho Yin was one of the most famous leaders of Macau's Chinese community for several decades until his death in 1983.

"He's a good politician. I think he has been tailored for this job for a very long time," said Jose Morgado, the only Portuguese national on the voting committee.

Chinese to move in

Mr Ho has promised to explore ways of diversifying the economy and to re-organise security forces in the fight against crime.

China upset Portugal last year when it announced up to 1,000 Chinese soldiers would be based in Macau after the handover to deter the gangs.

But Mr Ho backed the troops saying they were "totally in accordance with Chinese Government sovereignty".

His selection is expected to be endorsed by the central government next week.