China Promises to Continue Crackdown on Chinese Gamblers

China continues to believe that oppression is the best form of government expression. According to China’s Ministry of Public Security, the authorities in China had achieved success in halting cross-border gambling activities in 2021 and will continue this policy this year. The country will do this by continuing its practice of blacklisting overseas institutions or individuals that support gambling groups, as well as by suppressing gambling capital transfer channels.

China Seeks Net-Zero Policy on Gambling

Following a meeting with some of the Ministry’s top officials and Chinese state councilors, the Ministry of Public Security announced the continued measures via a press release. According to reports, the meeting was focused on the government’s action plan for this year regarding cross-border gambling involving or directed at mainland residents.

The release stated that China would cooperate with international law enforcement agencies and press for a unified crackdown with other nations to ensure that cross-border gambling groups targeting mainland Chinese citizens could face severe punishment.

China will update its “blacklist,” which includes individuals and institutions that support gambling groups, to achieve this end, according to the press release. Several years ago, a number of employees working for Crown Resorts were arrested in China for allegedly promoting the casino operator to locals.

The Ministry presented a plan to “completely eliminate” foreign “mega-gambling groups.” This may be a veiled reference to Macau’s junkets.

The Ministry also referred to the eradication of “the A Group” of large cross-border gambling organizations that it claimed had been recruiting Chinese citizens for gambling and taking money out of China. This likely refers to Suncity Group. It shut down its junket service in December after former Suncity boss Alvin Chau was detained and arrested.

More Oppression Coming from China

According to the release, authorities will also update the “blacklist” system that targets certain jurisdictions that solicit mainland Chinese gamblers. In previous mainland-China announcements or media stories about the blacklist, no names were used to identify any places or organizations.

Cryptocurrency is one of the money-transfer routes that will be under scrutiny. Individuals with multiple bank cards would be examined.

According to Tuesday’s statement, the 12 months ending December 31 saw the Chinese authorities make the most of cross-border gambling activity and they achieved the “most efficient results.”

The document stated that several large-scale, cross-border gambling networks that were soliciting players from mainland China had been dismantled in 2021.

Travel restrictions on places where the Chinese go to gamble were first imposed in August 2020. While the lists have never been made completely public, Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines, Myanmar, Malaysia and Vietnam are all hotspots.