Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Macau – the world’s dominant gambling centre – last month for a first-hand look at the fallout from his anti-corruption drive. In recent years billions of dollars have poured into Macau as corrupt Communist Party of China officials either frittered their ill-gotten gains away at the gaming tables or used the casinos for laundering their loot. But the detention of at least 180,000 officials last year by Xi’s anti-corruption pit bulls has cooled the passion for Macau’s pleasure palaces. Xi’s message was that Macau cannot continue to count on the flood of gambling revenues.
