Macao to regulate gambling, Xi said

Macao needs to step up "regulation and supervision over the gaming industry", President Xi Jinping said on Saturday, as the top global gambling destination tries hard to broaden development.

"Macao needs to enhance top-level planning and specify concrete steps and measures for progress," Xi said at the celebration of the 15th anniversary of the region's return to the motherland.

Xi, who arrived in Macao on Friday, also officiated the inauguration ceremony of the fourth-term government of the Macao Special Administrative Region on Saturday.

Noting Macao needs to "nurture new growth areas", Xi said Macao needs to enhance cooperation with the mainland, particularly the Pearl River Delta Region.

Macao Chief Executive Chui Sai-on said Macao will adjust the scope of the gaming industry, promote integrated tourism, cultivate new emerging industries, support the development of conventions and exhibitions, Chinese medicine, and cultural and creative industries, to establish new economic growth points.

"We will provide sufficient room" for small- and medium-sized enterprises,” Chui added.

Over reliance on gaming has posted Macao unprecedented challenges for future growth. Non-gaming activities accounted for approximately 10 percent of Macao’s total casino revenue, while industry figures from the state Gaming Control Board in Nevada, where Las Vegas is located, showed gambling accounted for 45.1 percent of total revenue in 2013.

Leading junket operators have also said they would develop other non-gaming sectors to offer tourists more quality experiences.

Macao’s gaming industry has witnessed a contraction that began with a drop in June. It expanded to a 19.6 percent slump in November compared with the same period last year, the Macao Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau reported.

New York-based credit rating agency Fitch Ratings anticipates a 4 percent drop in Macao's gaming revenue in 2015, driven by a lapse in VIP business that previously accounted for two-thirds of Macao's overall annual gambling revenue.

Contact the writers at zhaoshengnan@chinadaily.com.cn and zhanghaizhou@chinadaily.com.cn