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A sector of China’s economy is full of big risky bets and it loves it.
Macau, the gambling mecca of the East, has battled Las Vegas for the status of the most profitable gambling center in the world. The Wall Street Journal informed.
luck is turning
China’s economy has taken a lot of hits lately. After lifting covid restrictions later than much of the world, his recovery has been delayed. In July, exports fell 14%, the country’s biggest drop in more than three years. Also, the real estate market is in tatters with few new buyers and many developers not paying off massive loans. Meanwhile, youth unemployment is so high that China’s National Bureau of Statistics recently stopped collecting data altogether.
But now that tourism is open for business and people can move freely around the country again, Macau is quickly regaining its edge over other major gambling cities like Singapore and Las Vegas:
- The number of mainland Chinese who visited Macau in July was 1.9 million, slightly below 2019 levels. But in the first six months of 2023, Macau generated $10 billion in gambling revenue, compared with the $7.5 billion from Las Vegas.
- High rollers are still not as plentiful as they used to be, but even low level players tend to bet more than $1,500 at the tables per hour, the wsj informed.
Peking snake eyes: However, it’s not all triple 7s for Macau, as most of its visitors are from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan. It doesn’t have much international appeal at the moment, so you risk being overly reliant on locals and your next-door neighbors. The Chinese government is also requiring casino companies like MGM, Sands and Wynn to reduce their reliance on gambling and instead diversify with hotel deals, concerts and other attractions. So Beijing is basically telling casino operators to refocus on tourists, but it’s not their main reason for being there.
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