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China’s top security leadership has reiterated a hard line on cross-border gambling, telling police and related agencies to keep pressure on overseas-facing gambling networks that recruit Chinese citizens and move money out of the country.
The renewed push was set out at a national video conference chaired by senior official Wang Xiaohong, who called for a sustained campaign and closer coordination between departments, with investigators told to focus on major networks, key fugitives and complex cases.
Police told to target networks and the money behind them
At the conference, Wang framed cross-border gambling as a long-running threat that can’t be handled with one-off raids or isolated investigations. The message to local units was to work cases through the full chain, from organisers and recruiters to payment channels and support infrastructure, and keep operations running long enough to dismantle groups rather than just disrupting individual venues.
Chinese state media coverage of the meeting also stressed the need to strengthen joint mechanisms, including data sharing and cross-department cooperation, reflecting how often these operations stretch across borders and online platforms.
Supreme People’s Court urges tougher sentencing, highlights “increasingly prominent” problem
On the judicial side, China’s Supreme People’s Court (SPC) has also been pushing courts to come down harder on cross-border gambling organisers, especially where cases overlap with violence or other serious offences.
In earlier guidance, the SPC warned that overseas casinos enticing Chinese citizens to gamble has become “increasingly prominent” as the economy and internet activity expand.
The court has used example cases to underline the point. One widely cited case involved a Macau-based syndicate leader identified as Wu, who was sentenced to six years in prison after authorities said the operation generated profits of more than RMB300 million from domestic participants, with other members receiving shorter prison terms.
Regional cooperation is back on the table, too
Beijing has also been leaning on neighbouring countries to take a tougher stance on related cross-border crime.
In a separate push, Foreign Minister Wang Yi has urged Southeast Asian governments to step up cooperation against online gambling and telecom fraud, pointing to threats that can include human trafficking and organised criminal activity along key border areas.
Source: State.Council of China
