Chinese Legal Gambling Sales Set New 96 billion CNY Record

During 2010, lottery ticket purchases saw unrelenting growth in China, where the enormous government-operated lottery system remains the only form of gambling allowed by Chinese gambling laws apart from casino gambling in Macau. In fact, according to the Welfare Lottery Distribution and Management Center (WLDMC), fresh records were set since revenues reached 96 billion CNY (14.47 billion USD), up 27% from last year.

Since 1987, the Ministry of Civil Affairs has been sanctioned by the Chin’a Cabinet (a.k.a. the State Council) to manage the WLDMC to generate welfare funds. Overall, data demonstrates that gambling in China in 2010 through the national lottery generated 30 billion CYN (4.55 billion USD) for public welfare.

The Chinese government does not willingly endure competition to its profitable gambling operations. Last September, China introduced clearly defined new online gambling laws to remove ambiguities and create harsher punishments. Organizers of illegal gambling dens risk from three to ten years in prison in addition to significant fines. This law applies to both offline and online casinos in China, and is especially serious for gambling operations which earn over 30,000 CYN (4,500 USD).

As another measure attempting to prevent economic rivalry against government-sanctioned gambling, China is fighting a losing censorship war against online casinos. By implementing the “Great Firewall of China”, the government has controlled traffic to 785 million websites, resulting in 60,000 closers including 150 internet casinos. Yet, even in spite of convicting nearly 5,000 internet users. Chinese online gambling websites are increasingly prevalent.