'Las Vegas of Asia' tells casinos to grow beyond gambling

BEIJING (AP) — Losing money due to COVID, the American casino giants that helped make Macao the “Las Vegas of Asia” face a fresh challenge: The tiny Chinese territory wants them to help reduce its reliance on gambling by paying to build theme parks and other attractions.

The former Portuguese colony stayed out of business decisions for decades and now is aligning with official strategy on China’s mainland, where foreign companies are required to help pay for the ruling Communist Party’s development ambitions, profitable or not.

The licenses of MGM Resorts, Las Vegas Sands, Wynn Resorts and three Chinese rivals that invested billions of dollars in Macao expire in December. Rules released in early July say any that want to operate over the next 10-year period face an added requirement to invest in “non-gaming projects.”

Casinos face still more financial pressure after they were ordered to close this week, along with most other businesses, while Macao tries to control a renewed coronavirus outbreak. They already were operating under rules imposed in late June that limited the number of their employees to 10% of normal.

Financial analysts expect the Americans to get licenses, but the government says bidding is open to anyone.

The territory of 700,000 people crowded onto a 30-square-kilometer (12-square-mile) peninsula jutting into the South China Sea near Hong Kong is the biggest global center for gambling but is under pressure from Chinese President Xi Jinping’s government to rely less on its dominant industry.

Beijing wants theme parks, entertainment and conventions to attract more non-Chinese visitors. Even before tourist travel was shut down to fight COVID in 2020, the mainland was trying to limit the flow of gamblers across the fenced boundary that separates Macao...