Online and sports betting a first step
With a stop at Hainan’s Boao Forum last week, Chinese President Xi Jinping raised hopes that the PRC’s smallest province will get a tourism boost—possibly as China’s first free trade port, and possibly in the form of legal gaming. The forum established in 2001 marked 40 years since China’s economic opening under Deng Xiaoping.
As noted by Bloomberg News, in Macau, the only place in China where casinos are permitted, most of the revenues go to foreign operators like Las Vegas Sands Corp., MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts. “A more nationalist angle on the question of gambling and tourism is now finding its moment, dovetailing with Xi’s emphasis on a resurgent China taking its place on the world stage,” stated the Bloomberg article.
“We need to take the issue seriously instead of avoiding it,” said Zeng Xianyun, chairman of Phoenix Island, who hopes to see the expansion of legal gaming in China. “We need to take the issue seriously instead of avoiding it. We can’t let this big cake be eaten all by foreign capital.”
A party reform group headed by Xi is reportedly considering allowing online gaming and sports betting in Hainan, a first step to legal casino resorts.
“Hainan has extremely high hopes for President Xi’s visit and hope to receive some supportive policies,” said Liu Feng, a researcher of Hainan Normal University Maritime Silk Road Research Institute. “Designating the island as a tax-free zone, or even just increasing the number of duty-free shopping locations, will inject vitality into Hainan’s tourism development.”
