Gambling Illegal In China
- Why Is Gambling Illegal In China
- Gambling Illegal In China
- Is Gambling Illegal In China
- Illegal Gambling Chinatown Nyc
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.
- Cover Story: How China’s E-Commerce Giants Enable Illegal Online Gambling By Yuan Ruiyang, Ye Zhanqi and Han Wei By the end of September, Chinese authorities launched investigations of more than 8,800 cross-border gambling cases and arrested more than 60,000 suspects allegedly involved in the illegal businesses.
- This is gambling with a digital twist, and it allows Chinese to bet without traveling to Macau or Las Vegas. It’s also a growing problem for China’s Communist Party, which says the transactions are.
- The good news for gaming companies is that China has started approving titles again. The bad news is that it has unveiled new rules that will see certain categories banned and the number of games.
Why Is Gambling Illegal In China
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.
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.
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
Gambling Illegal 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.
Is Gambling 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.
Illegal Gambling Chinatown Nyc
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.