Are Casinos Legal In China
For decades, most forms of gambling have been officially illegal under Chinese law.
However, despite the general prohibition on gambling, some “games of luck” are permitted in China. Activities that are conducted for amusement and not for profit – for example, playing chess or poker games in the park for pure entertainment purposes – are not considered gambling.
China Online Gambling Law. Mainland China is strictly anti-gambling. Both online and offline wagering are illegal with both punishable by fines and imprisonment. This goes for both operators and patrons. The country even attempts to block citizens’ access to online casinos via the Great Firewall of China. Online casinos accepting Chinese players. Despite China’s strict laws against online gambling, it remains big business in China. Many local operators illicitly continue to offer their services to Chinese players, although raids are common and these operators can cease services at the drop of a hat, making these sites very dangerous for players. Macau, a special administrative region like Hong Kong, is the only place in China where casinos are legal, and the business has grown at an astounding pace since 2001, when the government ended the four-decade gambling monopoly of the Hong Kong billionaire Stanley Ho. Chinese Gambling Laws Gambling is legal in China. There are several major Chinese lotteries, while Macau is the center of casino gambling in China. Macau, also spelled Macao, has 30 casinos, some of them among the largest in the world. China has a strict stance against most forms of gambling, with a majority of gambling activities prohibited. This article looks at China’s gambling laws and whether real money online gambling is legal in China. Online casino sites accepting players from China Overview of China’s gambling laws.
The Chinese government does not consider the lottery a form of gambling, either. Therefore, the only types of legal gambling in China are the two state-run lotteries.
The welfare lottery which offers the chance to win prizes while supporting good causes, and the sports lottery which helps promote sporting activities. The sports lottery ticket sales climbed to $16.5 billion in the first quarter of 2018, making China the second-largest lottery market in the world, after the US.
Other forms of gambling, such as casino games, mah-jong, and sports betting with unauthorized channels, are illegal. (Yes, although it is one of China’s oldest and most favorite games, mah-jong gambling is not legally allowed.)
Lottery Gambling In China
The welfare lottery and the sports lottery are the only forms of legal gambling in China. Both are authorized by the Chinese government. Any other type of lottery is considered illegal in China.
While the Ministry of Finance is responsible for administering, regulating, and supervising the national lottery industry, the State Council is the highest authority in China to grant the license to issue the two types of lottery.
The first issuance of the welfare lottery tickets dates back to 1987, and the first issuance of the sports lottery tickets was in 1994.
China’s sports lottery is celebrating its 24th anniversary this year. The sports lottery allows legal betting on all sporting events; by far, the most popular is betting on soccer.
This may explain why China has been a nation of football fans, and particularly in recent years, the culture of watching football (and betting on it) has been spreading like wildfire in China. There have also been rumors that the government is currently considering opening up the domestic football lottery sector.
In the beginning, sports lottery tickets were sold at exclusive outlets across Chinese cities. However, the number of outlets had always limited the volume of potential ticket sales. Therefore, China’s sports lottery entered the online world in 2010 to expand access.
The new online rules allow licensed sports lottery vendors to partner with website providers to sell online lottery tickets. Such websites must be approved by government regulators and are subject to strict regulation. Due to the tight regulation, there is still a limited number of licensed sports lottery websites in China.
Other than the government-authorized sports lottery, any other form of sports betting is illegal.
Here’s an overview of the different gambling related regulatory authorities in China and their responsibilities.
| Regulatory Authority | Role |
| State Council | Granting the authority and license of the two types of lottery |
| Ministry of Finance | Regulation and supervision of the entire lottery industry |
| Ministry of Civil Affairs | Regulation of the welfare lottery |
| General Administration of Sport | Regulation of the sports lottery |
| China Welfare lottery Issuance and Administration Centre | Administration of the welfare lottery |
| China Sports lottery Administration Centre | Administration of the sports lottery |
The law that makes unauthorized forms of gambling a crime in China is Article 303 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China (2006 Revision). This law states the following.
So the law prohibits both professional and casual gambling, and there are several accounts of casual gamblers being arrested. Though the law allows criminal detention, the usual punishment is a simple fine.
The same law also includes the following, which shows that the potential punishments for running a gambling house are more severe.
The same rules that regulate traditional gambling regulate online gambling as well – so no, online gambling is not legal in China.
Operating online gambling sites and providing gambling services in China are both illegal. In fact, in recent years, China’s war on online gambling has continued to ramp up, with the authorities keen on sending an unmistakable message.
In 2018, for example, ahead of the FIFA World Cup in Russia, the state-run press agency reported that police across provinces of China had arrested hundreds of individuals for suspected involvement in using and operating online gambling platforms.
What about betting on foreign sites from China? The problem is, foreign gambling websites are regularly blocked by internet service providers, and you are not allowed to access gambling sites from China, or you may be arrested for doing so. It is also illegal to send funds to these sites or receive funds from them in China.
If you still want to gamble, one option is to use digital wallets, cryptocurrency, and other alternative methods of paying for your games, because any transactions to and from online gambling sites are blocked by traditional financial institutions.
China is a huge market. Just looking at the number of Chinese gamblers filling casinos across the world, you can imagine the amount of gambling revenue that would be generated by the country’s gamblers.
At the end of the day, we all want a safe and secure environment to play online, especially in today’s online world with concerns about cybercrime and fears of involvement in illegal activities.
Reading gambling site reviews may help you alleviate the concerns and find the right site to give you that buzz of winning.
Like any other reviews, gambling site reviews are a great way to find out all the key information of any operation without you having to do all the research yourself. You can find information such as what software they use, what banking methods are available, the selection of games, the range of betting options, how good the customer support is, as well as some other interesting facts.
StatesOnlineCasino reviews China casino games and online betting sites in CN.
Chinese Gambling Laws
Are Casinos Legal In China Usa
Gambling is legal in China. There are several major Chinese lotteries, while Macau is the center of casino gambling in China.
Macau, also spelled Macao, has 30 casinos, some of them among the largest in the world. Famous Las Vegas entities like MGM, the Sands and Steve Wynn have their own properties in Macau. Dog racing and horse racing is also legal in Macau.
In north of China in Yantai City, a cruise ship casino is found. Chinese are allowed to gamble online, though new restrictions against online lottery tickets went into effect in the last year.
Cruise Ship Casinos in China
Xiang Xue Lan (Yantai City) – The cruise ship Xiang Xue Lan in Yantai City, China is the only Chinese casino found outside of Macau. The Xiang Xue Lan Hotel houses a 24-hour casin on Jiefang Road in Yantai City. Call the Xiang Xue Lan phone number at +86 535 6212 290, or fax at +86 535 6214 196.
Yantai is a city in the northeastern part of China, in the Shandong province on the North China plain. Yantai City is found southeast of Beijing and north up the coast from Shanghai. Yantai is a port on the entrance to Bohai Bay at the mouth of the Yellow Sea, and is across the Korea Bay from the Korean Peninsula.
Lottery Games in China
The China Sports Lottery is the largest lottery in China. It can be found at www.lottery.gov.cn. Hong Kong HKJC Lotteries Ltd. is also a large Chinese-language lotto company, so large that the lottery is the #1 tax payer in Hong Kong.
Finally, international companies like Betex Group PLC out of the United Kingdom has a Chinese-language lottery site, with offices in Hong Kong and Beijing. Unfortunately, lottery gaming online is now strictly limited in China.
Online Lottery Laws in China
The PRC announced the Provisional Rules for the Administration of Issue and Sales of Lottery, which prohibits Chinese citizens from engaging in online lottery ticket sales. The Chinese Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Sport and the Ministry of Civil Affairs were the PRC entities which jointly announced the decree.
Before the law went into effect in 2008, Chinese gamblers could buy lottery tickets online at Chinese-language sites operated by VODONE. VoDONE operated the Lottery Channel, which sold online tickets. The Lottery Channel has been shut down and VODONE has moved on to other industries, claiming lottery tickets were a small part of their business.
China Sports Lottery Printing Limited, or the CSLP, is working in conjunction with Scientific Games to build a lottery ticket printing facility on the grounds of an existing CSLP facility in China. This deal was signed in February 2008. The two companies will have a joint partnership for 15 years and Scientific Games’ profits will be based on a percentage of the number of tickets sold.
Online Gambling in China
Online casino gambling is legal in China, though online lottery is illegal. There are many different online casinos which cater to Chinese gamblers, such as Betex and Bodog out of the U.K.
For instance, Bodog Entertainment is focusing resources on tapping the Chinese online gaming market. Bodog owner, Calvin Ayre, says he wants to make Bodog into an “online Macau”, China’s casino province. Bodog has established a hotline for speakers of Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese. Bodog also recently launched a Chinese ad campaign in the Chinese online media and print media. Evelyn Ng is featured in this campaign.
Chinese Horse Racing
The Chinese government is in the process of making horse racing and pari-mutuel wagers legal in China for the first time since 1949. If horsetrack gambling is legalized, the first Chinese horse races could take place as early as 2009.
The new horse track will be built in Wuhan in the Hubei Province by the Orient Lucky Horse Group Cooperation. Estimates are that Chinese pari-mutuel wagering could bring in $13 billion per year in revenues, though Chinese officials are quick to point out that gambling might not be legalized.
Is It Illegal To Gamble In China
The creation of horse tracks are another sign of the growing middle class in China. A middle class wants entertainment venues where they can spend their disposable income and a horse track is another spending option. If the trial period goes well, betting on horse races will be another of those options.
Professional Poker in China
The China Leisure Sports Administrative Center and the China National Traktor Poker Tour crowned its first professional poker champions in the fall of 2007. The competition was held in Lanzhou, Ganzu and were held in conjunction with the World Poker Tour Enterprises. The WPTE recognized the champions, which won an all-Chinese tournament of 418 competitors. Traktor Poker is a traditional Chinese card game.
Macau Gambling
Chinese Macau is one of the major gambling cities in the world. By some estimates, Macau or Macao passed Las Vegas in gambling revenues in 2007, making Macao arguably the new gambling capital of the world.
Because Macau is such a large gambling venue, World Gambling Review has given Macau its own separate page on this site. Click on the following link to read a full recap of gambling in Macau.
Hong Kong Gambling
We also have a separate page for gaming in Hong Kong, another special administrative district of China. Click on the following link to read a full recap of gambling in Hong Kong.