Macau casinos generate USD 2.83B in revenue during May

The growth rate was the fastest since February 2014 and the second-highest monthly result this year. Macau has rebounded amid better-than-expected economic growth in China, and from five-year lows set in 2014 when President Xi Jinping launched an anti-graft campaign targeting ostentatious displays of wealth.

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Casino operators in the former Portuguese colony have seen their stocks soar over the past 10 months.

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Galaxy Entertainment was up 77 percent, Wynn Macau up 45 percent and Sands China up 17 percent.

Macau's resurgence will worry rival casino hubs as they claw for business from wealthy Chinese players who contribute the bulk of operators' profits.

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Macau's revenues are more than 6 times Singapore's and 9 times those of the Philippines.

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But it could come under fresh pressure in the months ahead after authorities in May imposed new measures to better control the flow of money through the territory of about 600,000 people.

Last week Macau formed an alliance with the mainland to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing, and beefed up its anti-money laundering framework with a much wider scope and stricter compliance measures.

New security measures including facial recognition at ATM machines are also being rolled out.