Chinese Government May Use a Blacklist of Illegal Gambling Websites

23.03.2020, 18:55

Gambling activity has been outlawed in China ever since 1949, the year when the Communist party took power over the nation. Macau, a self-governed city, is the only place in which casinos are legal in China. Because of this, illegal gambling is a common activity in China; this ranges from activities such as online gambling to even gambling overseas. However, often Chinese citizens gamble illegally both in and outside of China. 

A side note: the lottery is not illegal in China; the Chinese government runs a “Welfare Lottery” and a “Sports Lottery”, which are not considered to be a form of gambling. 

Back in 2010, the Daily Telegraph released a report stating that approximately 1 trillion yuan is illegally wagered in China each year! And, this was before the surge of online casinos, so the number is potentially much higher than that. According to another study, carried out by Economic Information Daily, the annual amount of online gambling alone in one year was 1 trillion yuan. This figure is about double what the official Chinese lotteries earn in revenue annually.

As the cases of illegal gambling have skyrocketed, Zhao Kezhi — the Chinese Minister of Public Security — made an announcement in early March about his upcoming plans. Zhao anticipates that the Chinese government is going to crack down on all illegal gambling operations, chiefly through creating a “blacklist” of websites in which gambling activities take place. Namely, this action will be carried out in order to destroy gambling operations that are based outside of China. 

China is planning on cooperating with other nations in order to target the offshore internet-based operators. There is already some precedent to this action; in fact, in 2019, Cambodian and Malaysian police carried out arrests of people who were operating online casinos that targeted Chinese citizens. 

That being said, the president of the Philippines (Rodrigo Duterte) has adamantly stated that he will not ban online gaming in the Philippines as it will lead to a huge loss of jobs. 

In Zhao’s recent statement, he divulged that it is essential to take a closer look at citizens’ financial transactions, in order to put an end to the circulation of wagers. 

Last month, in another statement, Zhao had said that the Chinese government will promote the Welfare and Sports lotteries as a legal form of gambling. They are hoping that, along with the aid of inter-departmental cooperation, this will route citizens away from illegal gambling. 

On February 24th, it was confirmed that the Chinese government canceled the passports of Chinese citizens who were operating offshore gambling businesses. As a result of their suspected illegal activity, these citizens will be stuck in the country.