The dismantling of Macau’s VIP gaming promoter system — which once accounted for more than 70% of casino revenues — marked a decisive shift in China’s governance priorities, according to a study by the University of Macau.
Authors João Ilhão Moreira and Zhou Yudi concluded that reforms introduced between 2022 and 2024 by the Macau government aligned the gaming industry with Beijing’s broader objectives of greater capital controls, enhanced transparency and rule-based governance.
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The study states that the end of these VIP promoters — known as “junkets” — reflected a strategic alignment with “mainland China’s objectives, including greater capital controls,” financial transparency and law-based governance.
The junket model, which served high-value clients and facilitated opaque capital flows from mainland China, had become increasingly incompatible with anti-money laundering enforcement and ongoing modernisation. “Although integral to Macau’s growth, the junket system entered into growing conflict with the enforcement of anti-money laundering rules and the modernisation of the sector,” the authors wrote.
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The study traces the industry’s evolution since the 1999 sovereignty transfer, noting that junkets were tolerated for decades due to their contribution to gross gaming revenues. In 2011, Macau’s gaming revenue reached 269.1 billion patacas (€234 billion) — five times Las Vegas revenues — with VIP rooms contributing more than 70% of that figure.
The 2021 arrest and subsequent conviction of Alvin Chau, leader of the territory’s largest junket group, Suncity Group, symbolised the end of an era and accelerated the transition to a gaming market model centred on mass-market players and integrated tourism. Chau was later sentenced to 18 years in prison after being found guilty of more than 100 crimes, including leading a criminal association, fraud and illegal gambling operations involving bets exceeding HK$823.7 billion.
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According to the researchers, the junket system evolved into a powerful financial network extending far beyond the gaming floors, with operators acting not merely as VIP client intermediaries but as facilitators of large opaque capital flows between mainland China and Macau — creating “networks of unregulated capital flows” and parallel channels outside China’s official banking system, which became increasingly problematic as Beijing tightened capital controls and demanded greater transparency.
In 2022, the Macau SAR government undertook the first major revision of the Gaming Law in more than two decades, redefining the role of concessionaires and gaming promoters, effectively dismantling the junket system and strengthening oversight and transparency mechanisms.
The new legal framework prioritised industry diversification with a greater focus on the mass market and integrated tourism over VIP rooms, while aligning Macau with China’s national priorities on capital control, money laundering prevention and integration into the national economic development strategy.
“The legal and regulatory measures introduced between 2022 and 2024 were designed to align Macau’s gaming industry with China’s priorities,” the study concludes.
