Macau casino operators’ shares jump after reports of Beijing rescue plan

Macau casino operators got their first good news in over a year after a report claimed China planned to offer the beleaguered gambling enclave a helping hand.

On Thursday, the Teledifusao de Macau (TDM) television network quoted Li Gang, director of China’s local liaison office, saying that the government in Beijing would introduce support policies intended to revive Macau’s casino industry, which this week reported its 16th straight month of gaming revenue declines.

That China would look to help Macau is highly ironic, given that it was largely policy decisions in Beijing that contributed to Macau’s decline. Shortly after President Xi Jinping assumed office in 2013, he began a widespread crackdown on corruption among public officials and private individuals attempting to flout China’s strict rules on taking currency out of the country.

The crackdown, coupled with the general economic slowdown in China, has resulted in a drastic reduction in Macau’s VIP gaming industry, which has fallen from over 70% of overall gaming revenue to just 55% in Q2 2015, leaving the city’s junket industry in turmoil.