China Making a Move to Remove Foreign Casino Presence

China has started a crackdown to stop foreign casinos from drawing its citizens to gamble overseas, Reuters reported.

Chinese people are often said to be the biggest gamblers in the world and most of the country's population admits that gambling is pretty much a part of their culture. Many of them consider it a form of perfectly normal social interaction. Authorities’ targets are casino operators from China’s neighboring countries seeking to bring in and cater to Chinese gamblers.

Hua Jingfeng, a deputy director at China’s Ministry of Public Security, said that the neighboring countries have set up offices in China in order to draw and recruit Chinese citizens to gamble abroad. At a briefing held in Beijing on February 6th, Jingfeng explained that some foreign countries see their nation as an enormous market. The authorities are determined to put an end to all of it.

Companies like SJM Holdings, Galaxy Entertainment, Las Vegas Sands, MGM Resorts and Melco Crown, operators that depend on Chinese gamblers, will certainly be affected by the government’s plans. Foreign companies are concerned about their uncertain future, but the worst part is that most of the these companies have already invested billions into new developments.

Chinese president Xi Jinping has already scared Macau high rollers through a corruption crackdown. China’s wealthy gamblers are now looking to bet outside Macau, especially in the Philippines, Vietnam and Singapore, while gambling revenue in Macau is in decline.

Xi Jinping has a plan to cut down on advertisements promoting and attracting people to Macau’s casinos. The government has also announced that smoking will be banned at casino tables, which will certainly push away numerous players. Due to Xi Jinping's anti-corruption campaign, Macau’s gambling revenue in 2014 fell for the first time since 2001 when casinos were liberalized.

The government has also announced that they will be cracking down on the small number of police and government officials who were involved in illegal gambling affairs. Last year, the police broke up several prostitution and gambling dens in the southern city of Dongguan and arrested hundreds of people.

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