Chinese developers place bets casinos abroad

Hong Kong's Landing International Development and Genting Singapore formed a joint venture in February this year to invest US$ 2.2 billion in a gaming resort on South Korea's island province of Jeju. Construction began in June on the resort that will offer 800 gambling tables when completed.
 
In January, Shenzhen-listed Macrolink Group and South Korea's Black Stone Resort formed a joint venture and acquired the right to use a 1.1 million-square-meter plot of land in Jeju for a resort. Though whether the resort will feature a casino has not been disclosed, the South Korean company has multiple gaming licenses and is experienced in running gambling businesses.
 
The project in Brisbane in which Chinese property developer Greenland Holding Group Company, Hong Kong-listed Far East Consortium and Hong Kong conglomerate Chow Tai Fook Enterprises have sought to invest may include a casino. The Aquis project that Hong Kong property tycoon Tony Fung plans to invest in may also offer gambling. A consortium formed by Australia-listed ASF Group, China State Construction and CCCC Guangzhou Dredging is also bidding for a project in Queensland that could offer gambling.
 
China became the world's second-largest gambling market after the United States last year, in which Chinese gamblers lost a total of around US$76 billion, according to British gambling consulting firm H2 Gambling Capital.
 
Chinese nationals accounted for just over 40% of foreign gamblers at South Korea's 16 casinos in 2012, according to the country's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, greater than Japan in second place with 33%. Chinese tourists also accounted for more than one third of foreign tourists visiting the country last year. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Jeju island has surged since Seoul launched a 15-day visa waiver in 2008. The figure jumped 67.1% to reach 1.81 million in last year.
 
Casinos in Australia have also received more Chinese punters. Their number has tripled over the past decade and rose to the second-highest among foreign visitors after New Zealanders in 2012.
 
Investing in casinos overseas contains certain risks for Chinese property developers since Chinese laws ban gambling in public, running a casino or any gambling-related business in China, with the exception of Macau. These developers are also inexperienced in running casinos.