China Plans Online Gambling Crackdown

Aug 08, 2019  CHINA signaled a crackdown on cross-border gambling after alleging that many its nationals working in the Philippine offshore gaming industry were recruited illegally. The Chinese embassy also pushed back on the gaming regulator’s plans to confine Chinese offshore gaming workers, employed by firms. China’s embassy in Manila put out a strongly worded statement Thursday, saying casinos in the Southeast Asian nation are targeting its citizens, and that any form of gambling by Chinese people in overseas casinos – including online and via phone – is illegal.

China plans to crack down on the online gambling industry, including the banks and websites that support it, the Ministry of Public Security said in a statement posted on its website. The campaign.

China bans virtually all forms of traditional gambling. Despite this, many individuals in this country choose to gamble over the internet here. This week, news is coming out that online gambling in China is facing a major government crackdown.

Most of the focus will be on shutting down illegal gambling sites based in the Philippines that target Chinese players. Today, we’re going to look at the laws on gambling in China. We’ll also look at how the government here plans to crack down on the internet gaming industry as a whole.

China’s Laws on Land-Based and Online Gambling

China has some of the strictest anti-gambling laws in the world. For decades, all forms of gambling have been illegal here. This includes casino-style gambling and sports betting. Punishments for those caught gambling are severe.

The only form of wagering that this country allows is lottery gambling. Mainland China runs two lottery systems, the welfare lottery and sports lottery. Both offer individuals the opportunity to win prizes while the government uses the money earned to support charitable causes.

Online gambling in China is banned as well. It is completely illegal to gamble online here or offer any internet gambling services. For years, the government has attempted to censor and block gambling sites in Europe that accept Chinese players.

As you might expect, many people in this country still choose to make wagers online. Recently, gambling sites in the Philippines have begun to actively target Chinese players. Now, the government is beginning to crack down on these websites.

Government Ready to Stop Online Gambling in China

It’s clear that the Chinese government is fed up with their citizens gambling online through websites based in other countries. It’s extremely difficult to monitor the internet gambling industry, particularly when websites are purposely targeting the Chinese market. This week, the Chinese embassy sent a formal letter to the Philippines addressing the issue of illegal gambling websites.

“According to the Chinese laws and regulations, any form of gambling by Chinese citizens, including online gambling, gambling overseas, opening casinos overseas to attract citizens of China as primary customers, is illegal. The casinos and offshore gaming operators (POGOs) and other forms of gambling entities in the Philippines target Chinese citizens as their primary customers,” the official statement reads.

The Philippines has one of the fastest-growing casino industries in the world. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte recently announced that he’s stopped his fight against the gambling industry, giving casino companies here more opportunities to grow and generate revenue. Under Philippine law, gambling websites can offer services online once licensed by the government.

Many of these sites, called POGO’s, are now going after the lucrative, yet illegal gambling market in China. Lawmakers in China are claiming that these websites are increasing crime and fraud rates in the country.

China’s President Set to Address Illegal Online Gambling

China plans online gambling crackdown 2017

You know that China is taking this seriously when the president gets involved. According to the statement from the Chinese embassy, President Xi Jinping will personally discuss the issue of gambling websites targeting Chinese players with President Duterte later this month. Jinping claims that many Chinese nationals are to blame for online gambling in China, as they help to promote this illegal industry.

“A large number of Chinese citizens have been illegally recruited and hired in the Philippine gambling industry. In many cases, the employers of Philippine casinos, POGOs, and other forms of gambling entities do not apply necessary legal work permits for their Chinese employees. Some Chinese citizens are even lured into and cheated to work illegally with only tourist visas.”

The discussion between Jinping and Duterte is the largest meeting between presidents over the online gambling industry. We’ll need to wait and see how these two countries proceed over the next several months.

The government is working hard to completely eliminate online gambling in China. Officials are not happy about the Philippines targeting Chinese players while using Chinese nationals to promote the websites.

How do you think China will work to further limit internet gambling? What steps will the Philippines take to stop gambling sites from operating in China? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!

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Advertising for China's state-run Welfare Lottery outside a convenience store in Shanghai.

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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.

China Plans Online Gambling Crackdown 2017

  • 4Offshore gambling

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]

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.

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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]

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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]

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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.

See also[edit]

China Plans Online Gambling Crackdown

References[edit]

  1. ^ abEimer, David (9 January 2010). 'China's secret gambling problem'. Daily Telegraph. Shenyang. Retrieved 1 May 2015.
  2. ^'Rien ne va plus'. The Economist. 432 (9158): 25. 31 August 2019.
  3. ^'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.
  4. ^ abKalenyuk, Mary (7 November 2013). 'The bets are on for gambling in China'. The World of Chinese. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  5. ^'Crackdown on online poker applications in China - Somuchpoker'. somuchpoker.com. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
  6. ^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.
  7. ^2016 Wynn 10-K
  8. ^'Macau Gaming Summary'. University of Nevada, Las Vegas Center for Gaming Research. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
  9. ^'China targets PH in offshore gambling crackdown'. Manila Bulletin. Bloomberg. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 11 August 2019.
  10. ^Master, Farah (9 July 2019). 'Chinese state media target Macau's Suncity in online gambling report'. Reuters. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  11. ^Dancel, Raul (20 July 2019). 'Loan Sharks Feed Off Philippine Casino Boom'. The Straits Times. Retrieved 7 August 2019.

China Plans Online Gambling Crackdown Free

External links[edit]

  • China Sports Lottery official website(in Chinese)

China Internet Crackdown

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