China's economy and gambling

In mainland China, the legal economic contour of gambling is limited by state lotteries - these are stable non-tax revenues for social and sports programs, distributed through centralized and provincial channels.

The ban on commercial gambling shifts private demand beyond the mainland: some of the highly profitable traffic goes to Macau and neighboring jurisdictions, and some goes to the "gray" online, which is not monetized in the local budget and increases transaction risks.

For the state, key articles are lottery administration, payment/advertising control, combating underground networks and cross-border gambling; these costs are seen as an investment in social stability and consumer protection.

For businesses within the mainland, economic effects are manifested in related industries (retail lottery tickets, fintech monitoring, risk analytics), while classic casino services are concentrated in Macau and other external centers.

The final picture: lotteries remain the only legal source of "gaming" revenues, and strict control reduces the internal monetization of private demand, while supporting a model where gambling revenue and tourism are concentrated outside the mainland and partially returned indirectly - through trade, services and travel.