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Overlooking theMGM UN Your browser does not support the element. ocean atop Singapore’s glitzy Marina Bay Sands casino, the Chinese Communist Party is out of sight but, for at least a few patrons, probably not out of mind. Earlier this year the Chinese embassy in the city-state sought to “solemnly remind” its citizens that gambling while abroad, even in lawfully operated casinos, remains illegal. “Keep yourself clean” and report fellow Chinese caught having a flutter, diplomats instructed.The warning was part of China’s long-running, and now intensifying, crackdown on gambling at home and abroad. Over the past five years Xi Jinping, the country’s ruler, has squeezed betting syndicates on the mainland and increased pressure on officials in Macau to reduce their dependence on casino income. So far, party cadres do not have much to show for their efforts. When they suppress demand in one place, it tends to emerge in another. China’s gambling industry, much of it pushed online and offshore, is resurgent.Betting has been banned on the mainland since 1949, when the communists took power. Mr Xi’s predecessors saw the practice as both bourgeois corruption and feudal vice. China’s president instigated his own campaign to break up gambling rings. He wants to “purify the social atmosphere” and spread “civilised rural customs”. Some state-owned firms have made staff sign a pledge to abstain from gambling. The navy has warned sailors that online betting will end in addiction, a fate akin to being “possessed by demons”.Yet China’s love of wagering endures. In Macau, the world’s casino capital, it is an economic necessity. Gambling provides 85% of state inflows and employs one in five workers. The former Portuguese colony, on China’s south coast, raked in $35bn in gaming revenue in 2019, about three times the amount in Las Vegas.Chinese officials have had some impact on trade in Macau, with revenues dropping by a fifth over the past five years. They worry that the tables are being used to move capital out of China and launder ill-gotten gains. Regulators have tightened capital controls and clamped down on “junket” operators that help big spenders bypass foreign-exchange limits. Recently, they have been looking for punters taking cash into the territory by foot over the border. All this has pushed high rollers to use underground money-changers. Police busted 252 people in August for an illicit foreign-exchange trade worth 3bn yuan ($410m).Chinese authorities also used tightened travel restrictions during the covid-19 pandemic to force a change. Gamblers, mostly middle-aged men who often visit Macau, had their exit permits rejected, while more desirable clientele, such as young women and families, were allowed in greater numbers, says Ben Lee of iGamiX, a consultancy. Some of the effects of this change are lasting: today’s high rollers have smaller buy-ins (in the tens, rather than hundreds, of millions of Hong Kong dollars).Despite all of this, Macau still seems like a sure bet. Its economy is forecast to grow this year by 11%, more than double the pace of China’s. Some 3.7m trips were made to the territory in August, the most ever. China, one of Macau’s largest casino operators, reported a 46% increase in revenue from tables and slot machines in the first nine months of this year, against the same period last year. Monthly gaming revenue for the territory as a whole beat expectations, rising to $2bn in November, or four-fifths of its level in 2019.Macau’s speedy recovery is just one sign that Chinese gamblers remain keen to roll the dice. Casinos are also popping up across South-East Asia, especially in Cambodia and the Philippines, as budget-savvy travellers look for alternatives to Australia and Singapore. In Sihanoukville, on Cambodia’s coast, there are at least 100 casinos and dozens more currently under construction. Promoters are busy wooing visitors with a popular Chinese variation of poker known as “bull bull”.China’s government would prefer its risk-loving citizens buy scratch cards from the state lottery, which operates as a monopoly. Many are doing just that, only in addition to in-person gambling. During the first ten months of this year, those keen to try their luck spent 513bn yuan on such cards, which represents an 8% increase from the same period last year.Illicit online gambling also appears to be on the rise. Mr Xi’s crackdown has pushed syndicates offshore to South-East Asia, from where baccarat tables are streamed for the pleasure of mainland gamblers. A report estimates that illicit online gambling was responsible for $145bn of Chinese capital outflows in 2020—a figure that industry insiders expect to have surged since then. Chinese police made dozens of arrests earlier this year in response to illegal gambling on the Euro 2024 football tournament. The Ministry of Public Security claims to have disrupted about 4,300 illicit betting websites since 2021. In October authorities in Chongqing broke up an online gambling syndicate that was alone responsible for 10bn yuan in annual outflows.Mr Xi’s campaign against gambling shows no signs of letting up. In July China’s supreme court instructed the rest of the country’s judiciary to pay particular attention to the “growing issue of overseas casinos and online gambling” and to “continue imposing harsh penalties”, according to state media. On October 11th party functionaries met in Ningbo, a southern city, to review their progress and announce a new phase in a campaign to squash low-level betting in rural villages. They have a tough task. As is now abundantly clear, China’s gamblers refuse to fold.
