Aussie authorities looking into Crown Resorts staff detained in China

Industry observers are assigning some of the blame to the Chinese detention late last week of 18 employees of Australia's Crown Resorts Ltd.

The fate of 18 Crown Resorts employees detained in China remains unclear as investor reaction to raids by Chinese authorities wiped $630 million from the value of billionaire James Packer's controlling stake in the casino company.

It was not clear whether any of the staff had been charged. "It's unsafe and risky to open offices, organize parties, send business cards and even collect gambling debts in mainland China". A year ago too, China had arrested 13 casino managers from South Korea on charges of offering free tours, sexual services, hotels and gambling opportunities to Chinese citizens. The matter is under investigation at this time.

"Chinese authorities have three days in which to notify of the detention of Australians according to the terms of a bilateral consular treaty".

Chinese authorities are said to have begun the crackdown a year ago to try to stop overseas casinos being used to launder vast sums from some of its wealthiest citizens. Chinese law states that it is illegal for any organization or individual to take more than 10 Chinese nationals to an overseas casino.

The company operates a joint venture with Macau-based Melco International Development, through which it owns and operates a number of gaming and entertainment resorts. "The Korean casino companies have had their China-based marketing teams arrested with some degree of frequency".

The Chinese president, Xi Jinping, announced a major crackdown on advertising, including from casinos in Macau, that targeted mainland Chinese.

"The market appears to be concluding that it will have an impact on all Australian casino operations".

"A stand-out was the strong growth in International VIP Program Play turnover across Crown's Australian resorts", the report said.

"If China's economic growth comes in below 6.7 percent, which was the growth rate in the first two quarters of this year, this could lead to fears that the Chinese economy is weakening once again despite stimulus", OCBC's Menon said.

Crown said it was urgently trying to make contact with the employees. If the Crown execs were in China on a marketing exercise, they could well have fallen foul of the mainland's strict laws on promoting gambling overseas. The foreign minister of Australia said consular officials located in Shanghai are working with the detained executives and offering assistance.