China’s Ministry of Public Security has outlined further plans to crack down on cross-border gambling crimes in an effort to “sustain the economic security and public stability of China.”
The Minister of Public Security, Zhao Kezhi, held a meeting themed “Combating Cross-border gambling” on Thursday at which he underlined the importance of destroying any and all cross-border gambling syndicates operating in China.
The goal is “to crack down on any illegal fundraising network for gambling in our territory, and to resolutely cut off the gambling-related capital chain, technology chain, promotion channel and gamblers flows,” he said.
The crackdown will see the Ministry of Public Security strengthen international cooperation with nearby countries to jointly combat cross-border crimes, while also expanding a “blacklist” of overseas tourist destinations it says are attracting Chinese tourists for gambling activities.
“We must strictly punish and prevent the soil of cross-border gambling, using the highest and heaviest penalties to achieve the strongest legal deterrence,” Zhao stated. “We must create a strong atmosphere of rejecting gambling.”
China has been actively increasing its efforts to prevent cross-border gambling over the past 12 months, calling on those involved in such activities to surrender and announcing the creation of the blacklist of overseas tourist destinations it says are disrupting the nation’s outbound tourism market by opening casinos targeting mainland Chinese customers.
The Ministry of Culture and Tourism said last August that the blacklist system would see travel restrictions imposed on Chinese citizens going to overseas cities and scenic spots named on the blacklist. It also announced in January 2021 that it was working on expansion of the list.
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