China investigated over 17,000 instances of illegal cross-border gambling in 2021, according to the Ministry of Public Security.
Last June, the country announced that the government would intensify its targeted crackdown on cross-border online gambling activities. This involved coordinated efforts with various departments including the Ministry of Public Security to police online platforms, websites and mobile applications associated with gambling, with a focus on online livestreaming platforms, short videos, and online forums and websites.
The ministry stated in a report that it had arrested more than 80,000 suspects last year under increased measures aimed at cracking down on criminal activity.
2,200 online gambling platforms were taken down, as well as 1,600 illegal payment platforms and underground banks, 930 illegal technical service teams and 1,500 gambling promotion platforms.
“Over the past year, the Ministry of Public Security partnered with the relevant ministries to place the crackdown and governance of cross-border gambling in full swing by multiple means, successfully wiping out gambling recruitment and attraction networks, money laundering and other illegal monetary channels of many large, overseas gambling groups in China,” the ministry stated, as cited in a report issued by Gambling Insider. LV
