Foreign gambling firms banned from opening offices in China

China has barred foreign gambling firms from opening offices in the country or running online gambling activities and warned that violators would be punished. The General Administration of Industry and Commerce (GAIC) has ordered its local branches to forbid overseas gambling companies from opening offices in China, Xinhua news agency reported. The GAIC has urged local departments in charge of the industry and commerce to work with police and cultural departments to monitor the online activities. Online gambling will be punished in accordance with law, according to the GAIC. It also ordered officials with industry and commerce departments not to gamble. Private entrepreneurs' associations at different levels should also play a role in educating private business people, it said. The ruling Communist Party and the government have jointly launched a nation-wide campaign to root out gambling activities which they believe squandered public money. China banned gambling, along with prostitution and drugs, in the 1950s. In recent years, however, the Government believes that a growing number of wealthy Chinese are gambling away millions in casinos outside the Chinese mainland. The government is currently investigating 22 major gambling cases, including 13 online gambling cases, two cases involving Party and government officials and state-owned organisation chiefs, and two cases in which Chinese citizens who gambled in foreign casinos. PTI