China Central Bank to Crackdown on Cross-Border Capital Chains

The People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, has announced that it will be targeting “capital chains” in the financial sector as part of its fight against cross-border gambling.

At a bank meeting held on Friday 23 April, the PBOC deputy governor Fan Yifei called upon all units to remain focused on cracking down on cross-border gambling for the remainder of this year, as part of its political responsibility.

Combating cross-border gambling is our political, long-term and systematic effort. Although certain achievements have been made in the control of gambling-related ‘capital chains’, cross-border gambling crimes have not been fundamentally curbed and the situation is still complex and serious. We should prepare for this effort as a long-term and long-lasting war.

Fan YifeiDeputy Governor People’s Bank of China

Fan called upon all departments to implement the strictest management of cross-border gambling, which includes improving coordination between the various departments and its work controlling “capital chains” in key areas. Furthermore, he asked banks to develop better technical skills in regards to big data, cloud computing, machine learning, and other tools related to finance, while continuing to explore how digital currencies and blockchain technology can be used to combat cross-border gambling.

Representatives attended the meeting from several high profile institutions such as China’s Ministry of Public Security, General Administration of Customs, China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission, State Administration of Foreign Exchange, Payment & Clearing Association of China, China UnionPay and NetsUnion Clearing Corporation.

The order from Fan came just a fortnight after China’s Ministry of Public Security announced its own plans to come down on cross-border gambling crimes by strengthening cooperation with nearby countries and expanding a “blacklist” of foreign tourist destinations it claims are attracting Chinese gamblers. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism first announced the existence of this blacklist in August 2020.

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