China bans TV ads for Crown casino in Macau

The South China Morning Post said yesterday that the minute-long ad, featuring Hong Kong movie star Chow Yun-fat in a James Bond high-life role, was deemed unacceptable by the Chinese authorities because of its unambiguous promotion of gambling.

All gambling is banned in China except for a state lottery that is run to raise money for charity, but Hong Kong is permitted to run gambling on horse racing, and Macau, casinos - which have boomed since the city reverted to Chinese sovereignty seven years ago.

Both Hong Kong and Macau are special administrative regions of China, with borders requiring special permits for Chinese citizens. But Macau's gaming craze has been driven by mainland Chinese pouring in for day trips - thus they are the principal market for the Crown advertisements.

The Hong Kong based Post said the Chinese censors - all mass media remain state owned in China - urged the advertisement's producers to amend the expensively shot ad.

Crown Macau is owned by Melco PBL, a joint venture between James Packer's PBL and Lawrence Ho's Melco, a son of gaming billionaire Stanley Ho.

The venture is now seeking to raise a further us$ 2.5 billion for two further casino projects in Macau - where police a week ago fired shots to break up a protest of thousands of workers unhappy with the impact of the casino-driven economic thrust in Macau, with property prices skyrocketing and migrant workers displacing locals.