Last week, U.S. Congress passed a bill that would block using credit cards or online payment systems for internet gambling. In fact, many banks, credit card issuers, and online payment systems, either based on their own risk assessments or under pressure from government, had already prohibited such transactions.
Currently, the United States is the largest internet gambling market of the world. However, this industry is gaining remarkable momentum in Chinese markets. According to a recent report from the Beijing Morning Post, the global gambling companies added a total betting of 10 billion euros during this year’s World Cup, of which 60 percent came from the Chinese mainland and Southeast Asia. Another report from China Center of Beijing University revealed that each year, the Chinese would bet 600 billion yuan (75 Billion US dollars) overseas, and that amount was almost equal to the annual revenue of the country’s tourism industry. Government officials admitted that hundreds of billion yuan have been lost by gambling.
“There is nothing in Internet gambling that adds to the G.D.P. or makes America more competitive in the world,” Republican Representative Jim Leach said.
What a crystal clear statement!
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