Analysts say the crackdown contributed to an economic slump in Macau that lasted for more than two years. Macau appeared to bottom out about a year ago, and has since enjoyed rising revenues for nine consecutive months through April.<\/p>\n
In early May, Melco International chairman and CEO Lawrence Ho told shareholders that he believed Macau\u2019s gaming industry would return to its 2013 peak size of $45 billion by 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe crackdown wasn\u2019t really focused on gaming,\u201d Ho explained. \u201cIt was focused on anti-corruption and anti-extravagance. Gaming, like all luxury sectors, was really just collateral damage.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Ho said the worst impacts from the crackdown had passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe middle class and wealthy individuals in China, who didn\u2019t do anything wrong, have realized they\u2019re in the clear, and can now go back to living upscale [lives] and having fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
About Face?<\/h2>\n
Meanwhile, Macau has curbed in its reliance on the VIP sector that once accounted for some 60 percent of revenues and reinvented itself as a destination for the middle classes, largely with the support of Beijing.<\/p>\n
\n
But news earlier this month about ATM machines in Macau being retrofitted with face recognition technology gave China observers a pause. The technological upgrade suggested that Beijing still might have significant concerns about capital flight from the mainland and money laundering in Macau.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\u201cOver the past year,\u00a0the anti-corruption campaign appears to be moderating,\u201d the Bernstein analysts said. \u201cHowever,\u00a0in March and April 2017, we noticed a small spike in anti-corruption related activity. It is too early to call this a new trend, but it could indicate slowing of the moderation, and may in fact be a pick-up in activity.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An anti-graft and corruption campaign in China has been ongoing for more than two years. For a while, the government in Beijing seemed to be focussing on casino junket operators in Macau, with sweeps that resulted in arrests of casino executives as well as junior-level employees. The attention on casino marketers seems to have subsided, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":50985,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Analysts Warn China\u2019s \u201cAnti-Corruption Drive\u201d Could Hurt Macau Recovery<\/title>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n