- Macau China Gambling Agency
- Macau China Gambling Age Limit
- Macau Gambling Age
- Macau China Gambling Age
- Macau China Gambling Age Chart
- Macau China Gambling Agent
Advertising for China's state-run Welfare Lottery outside a convenience store in Shanghai.
Gambling in China is illegal under Chinese law[1] and has been officially outlawed since the Communist Party took power in 1949.[2] Any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online-gambling, gambling overseas, opening casinos overseas to attract citizens of China as primary customers, is considered illegal.[3] In practice however, Chinese citizens participate in state-run lotteries, regularly travel to legal gambling centers overseas or in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau and access gaming through offshore based proxy betting and online gambling companies.
Being the only city in China where gambling is legalised and with quality casinos to rival the top players like Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, Macau has become the top gambling centre, outshining other gambling cities by topping the government’s revenue charts. The gambling laws of Macau are rather complex but only for those in the gambling business. In short, as a player – all you really need to know is locals must be age 21 to gamble in casinos, age 18 for other forms of gambling, and cheating is a serious crime. Other than that, not much is illegal here as a player.
Mainland China[edit]
The Chinese government operates two lotteries: the Welfare Lottery and the Sports Lottery set up in 1987 and 1994 respectively. The Chinese government does not legally consider the lotteries a form of gambling.[4] Illegal gambling in China remains common, including unofficial lotteries, clandestine casinos, and betting in games such as mahjong and various card games. In 2010, The Daily Telegraph (UK) reported that an estimated one trillion yuan are wagered in illegal gambling every year in China. Problem gambling exists in the country, and may be more prevalent than in countries with legalized gambling.[1]Online gambling is another outlet for illegal gambling in the country.[4]
Various attempts have been made to establish legal casinos in mainland China, although these have been unsuccessful.
In June 2018, the Chinese Government banned all online poker applications. App stores had to remove all poker related applications, and the promotion of poker in general via all social media channels in China (Wechat, Weibo) became forbidden.[5]
China's plan to amend gambling laws to criminalize “organizing and soliciting by casinos abroad' spells trouble for Macau junket operators. The Grand Lisboa Hotel in Macau, China. Anthony Kwan/Getty Images Gambling on pent-up demand and hopes that the big rollers would return, analysts at J.P. Morgan made a bet on the gambling capital. China's move to stamp out online gambling to help contain capital outflows is hitting liquidity in Macau's VIP segment, at a time when the world’s No. 1 gambling hub is hobbled by slowing.
Hong Kong[edit]
While some aspects of mainland Chinese law apply in Hong Kong, certain forms of gambling are legal and regulated in Hong Kong. The Law of Hong Kong is based on English common law, having been a British territory until 1997. Gambling in Hong Kong has been regulated since 1977.[6] The Hong Kong Jockey Club organizes much of the legal betting in the region.
Macau[edit]
Gambling in Macau has been legal since the 1850s, when it was a Portuguese colony. The region has a history of gambling on traditional Chinese games. Gambling in Macau now primarily takes place in Western-style casinos; in 2007, Macau overtook the Las Vegas Strip in gaming revenues. As of 2016,[7] 38 casinos operate in Macau, and the region's annual gambling revenues exceed US$27.9 billion.[8]
Offshore gambling[edit]
Legal restrictions on onshore gambling in Mainland China have contributed to the growth of overseas and online gambling sites that cater to Chinese nationals. Integrated gaming resorts in Singapore, Australia, Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines welcome growing numbers of Chinese tourists.
Proxy betting[edit]
As in person visits to offshore gambling venues can be both time consuming and attract the attention of law enforcement, proxy betting has grown in popularity, especially for VIP clients wishing to discretely place high stakes bets. In proxy betting, clients communicate with staffers wearing headsets at baccarat tables in offshore casinos. Proxy betting was outlawed in Macau in 2016 and has never been permitted in Australia or Singapore casinos, but now accounts for 40 percent of the $1 billion VIP gaming market in the Philippines, according to brokerage CICC.[9]
Online gambling[edit]
Online gambling in Mainland China remains illegal, however internet traffic routed via VPNs, underground banking networks and payment platforms enable Mainland Chinese customers to access and remit funds to online gaming sites. According to 2019 estimates published in Economic Information Daily, an affiliate of state-owned news agency Xinhua, the annual amount bet through online gambling in the Mainland is more than one trillion yuan (US$145 billion), equivalent to nearly twice the annual income of China’s officially sanctioned lotteries.[10]
In the Philippines alone, where Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) can register and legally operate, over a three year period from 2016 at least 100,000 Chinese nationals were estimated to have moved to Manila to work for online gambling operators as marketing agents, tech support specialists and IT engineers to serve Mandarin-speaking clientele.[11] To side step restrictions on direct marketing of online gambling in Mainland Chinese print or social media, many online gaming sites seeking to attract Chinese customers have become shirt sponsors for English Premier League football teams. Dafabet’s sponsorship of Fulham FC and W88’s sponsorship of Wolverhampton Wanderers are just two examples of this trend.
Macau China Gambling Agency
Large betting sites like Bet365, BetPat & WilliamHill create mirror sites to bypass local controls as seen a list of how it works here SportsTalk.org in the Guardian it was commented at length that Chinese users can face jail.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ abEimer, David (9 January 2010). 'China's secret gambling problem'. Daily Telegraph. Shenyang. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
- ^'Rien ne va plus'. The Economist. 432 (9158): 25. 31 August 2019.
- ^'Remarks by Chinese Embassy Spokesperson on Issues of Chinese Citizens concerning Gambling in the Philippines'. Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Republic of the Philippines. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
- ^ abKalenyuk, Mary (7 November 2013). 'The bets are on for gambling in China'. The World of Chinese. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^'Crackdown on online poker applications in China - Somuchpoker'. somuchpoker.com. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
- ^Deans, Rob (2001). 'Online Gambling: Changes to Hong Kong's Gambling Legislation'. Gaming Law Review. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.5 (6): 555–560. doi:10.1089/109218801753336166.
- ^2016 Wynn 10-K
- ^'Macau Gaming Summary'. University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
- ^'China targets PH in offshore gambling crackdown'. Manila Bulletin. Bloomberg. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
- ^Master, Farah (9 July 2019). 'Chinese state media target Macau's Suncity in online gambling report'. Reuters. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^Dancel, Raul (20 July 2019). 'Loan Sharks Feed Off Philippine Casino Boom'. The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
External links[edit]
- China Sports Lottery official website(in Chinese)
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gambling_in_China&oldid=993018243'
Macau is China’s answer to Las Vegas. But the former Portuguese colony has long surpassed the City of Lights as the world’s casino capital, with revenue from gambling receipts exceeding the entire state of Nevada back in 2010. As well as drawing in the punters, it has the glittering architecture to match.
The story of Macau is one of globalisation and the rise of China. It is a globalisation story because of the role played by foreign multinational casino companies. And it is a story of the rise of China because it has been the economic prosperity of its citizens that has allowed them in great numbers to travel, see the world, and gamble.
Macau returned to Chinese rule in 1999 as a special administrative region, which means it has different laws to the mainland. It is the only part of Greater China (which includes China, Hong Kong and Macau) where gambling is legal, making it the country’s sole gambling destination.
In the years before the 1999 handover, the environment in Macau was fraught, with organised crime a violent presence competing for access to the sub-contracted VIP gaming rooms. These VIP rooms, which host high stake games in a private setting, are another dynamic behind Macau’s success. They made the Macau gambling experience different from that of other casino destinations.
Macau’s focus on high-spending customers, with private rooms and special privileges – rather than mass market gamblers – is the source of much of the casinos’ revenue. Casinos were originally built around VIP rooms. These were sub-contracted to gambling promoters who shared in the profits from bringing in wealthy gamblers. These high rollers made up 66% of total casino revenues in 2013.
Macau China Gambling Age Limit
International investment
Casino operations generate substantial tax revenue for the government: in 2001 it was 40% of all tax revenue collected. Ten years later, government income from casino gaming taxes amounted to 81% of all tax revenue collected. This massive change is the result of the decision to open up the casino industry and invite foreign firms to compete for a casino license.
Until 2001, only one company was licensed to operate casinos and for four decades this was monopolised by a company called Sociedade de Turismo e Diversões de Macau, SA (STDM). From 2002, casino licences were awarded to several foreign multinational firms and joint ventures. This included big firms from Australia, Hong Kong and the US, with recognisable names from Vegas, such as Las Vegas Sands, MGM, Galaxy and Wynn Resorts.
They invested heavily in big new casino resort complexes, with luxury hotels and high-end shopping malls. Given Macau’s tiny size – it originally consisted of a mainland peninsula and two small islands measuring 11.6 square kilometres in 1912 – land reclamation projects were necessary to host the burgeoning industry. By 2010, the territory measured 29.7 square kilometres, including six square kilometres of new land connecting the small islands of Coloane to Taipa, which plays host to the big casino complexes.
These new casinos have provided some employment opportunities for local citizens, but the greater impact for the economy has been the tourist visitor numbers and the tax revenue generated. After a decade of ever-increasing growth in gaming revenue with the opening of new casinos, tax revenue from the sector peaked in 2014 and then declined after China’s president, Xi Jinping instituted a widespread anti-corruption campaign.
Macau Gambling Age
The VIP gaming rooms in Macau became seen by the government in Beijing as a massive leakage of capital from the Chinese economy. A large part of the big money being gambled by these VIPs was seen as the proceeds of corruption and bribery on the mainland.
In 2014, gaming tax revenue provided 84% of the Macau government’s total revenue; by 2017 it had declined to 79%. But these percentages conceal the decline in the actual amount available to the government, from US$20.1 billion in 2014 to US$15.7 billion in 2017. This is because a number of Chinese elites eschewed Macau’s casinos to avoid scrutiny during Xi’s corruption crackdown.
Macau China Gambling Age
Casino revenue now appears to have stabilised, helped by a move in Macau away from relying on the VIP sector and towards mass market entertainment. The government has also encouraged diversification beyond the casino gaming room and, like Las Vegas, it is looking to attract exhibitions and events to be held there.
Macau China Gambling Age Chart
The new bridge connecting Macau with Hong Kong should support increasing tourist visits by easing travel to the territory, further supporting diversification. But Macau must increasingly contend with neighbouring rivals. The anti-corruption campaign encouraged Chinese gamblers to visit other Asian casino destinations, including new resorts in Singapore and Manila in the Philippines.
Macau China Gambling Agent
Modern Macau is built on China’s rise and the increased wealth of its citizens that this has brought. Macau’s continued success is contingent on its ability to attract the mass market gambler, along with other tourists, as a vacation destination. As China’s middle class continues to grow, it should guarantee a steady supply for years to come.