In China, it is against the law to gamble. That law does not apply to Macao, however. Macao was returned to China in 1999 by Portugal. Macao was part of Portugal for hundreds of years. While governed by Portugal, gambling was legal and many gambling casinos became very large.
China did not change the law after Macao was returned. Like Hong Kong, it became a special economic zone. Gambling is big business in Macao. Since 2004, China has been investing heavily in Macao’s gambling business. New hotels, restaurants and casinos have been built. Today, 75% of Macao’s tax income is from gambling. Macao makes more money from gambling than Las Vegas and Atlantic City together. The biggest gambling casino in the world is the Venetian Macao.
The current economic problems have slowed the growth of Macao. At the same time, the Chinese government is doing more to control gambling there by making it harder to get a travel visa. This is because many local Communist Party members have stolen government money to gamble in Macao. Many of these Party members have gone to prison and 15 have been executed. This has been a loss of face for the Party and government.
One Party leader in Chongqing stole $24 million from the city. He lost half of the money at the Casino Lisboa in Macao. Another official from Guangdong Province stole $12 million and lost it in Macao. The Guangdong official was sent to jail for 20 years.
A recent study of 99 big gamblers from mainland China showed that 59 worked for the government, 33 were government officials, 19 were top managers at state owned businesses. Most were men from 30 to 49 years old living near Macao in Guangdong Province. The government officials lost an average of $2.7 million each. The managers of state owned businesses lost an average of $1.9 million. This was over a 4 year period. Their gambling losses caused at least 10 companies to go out of business.
There are many popular gambling games in Macao.
Tags: corruption, ESL News
