Cross-border gambling in China leads to wave of arrests

Close to 110,000 suspects of cross-border gambling crimes arrested in China

The Chinese government is marking major success in its campaign against cross-border gambling. Multiple nationwide counter-operations were launched in 2020, aiming to destroy all related operations.

More than 17,000 criminal  cross-border gambling cases were investigated, resulting in more than 110,000 suspects being arrested. The large-scale incarceration frenzy has caused the upwards trend of the phenomenon to reverse.

Circa 3,400 gambling platforms, 2,800 illegal payment platforms, 2,200 promotion platforms and illegal banks and with it all 1,400 illegal technical teams were dismantled in the process. Individuals charged with the involvement in cross-border gambling are stripped of their passport and prohibited from leaving the country for three years.

Suspects not yet apprehended are urged to turn themselves in by April 30, in order to receive more lenient penalties. ID numbers and names were also made public in  government's statement.

The Chinese government is additionally maintaining a blacklist system for gambling tourist destinations, however it is not open to the public.

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