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Many moons ago, I wrote a piece on the Vancouver model. About how the Chinese mafia get their money out of china. The system is very convincing but that was just for the mafia. There are other types of rich people in China too. They need their own system to funnel money out of China. So they have their own system.
First of all, you might ask why would a Chinese rich man want to move out of China? Answer is, china has a very dangerous government that controls the people more than other governments. The government monitors your money, it makes your mouth stay shut, you can't talk against the government evn if it's true, you would want better education for your children, and you literally can't leave China because of the 50000 yuan per year law. You can't take more than 50000 yuan per year out of china. Practically making it near impossible to shift outside.
Enter Macau. Macau is a Chinese controlled territory outside mainland china. It was controlled by the Portuguese during the ching dynasty. They wanted to make profit off this island. So they made gambling legal in Macau. Key selling point? Gambling was in China. Then in the 1990s when Chinese communist party came to power, Portugal wasn't as huge as they were previously. So the CCP demanded Macau back to mainland china. And Portugal handed Macau over but kept the gambling business. Now you're a rich man. You want to get out of China. But the stingy laws of the country aren't letting you to. So what do you do? You go to Chinese controlled Macau for a vacation. You happened to stumble upon a casino and wanted to gamble. And then your luck favored. So, You gambled and made a lot of money and converted the winnings into the mighty US dollars. Now your wealth is not in Chinese yuan and you can go wherever you please. This is how it'll look like. But of course it's a shady business.
The whole vacation is pre planned. And the stumbling upon a casino too. You buy some chips (non-negotiable), then play some hands, then convert those non-negotiable chips to negotiable chips, then you're allowed to withdraw the money in whatever currency you please. Also, you spend some time in some of Macau's finest restaurants and motels. Enjoy your time there and then on the way to a flight leading to your new destination. All this sounds pretty easy. Because it is. Because you're not breaking any laws. Going to a Chinese controlled state for a vacation is legal. And if that state happens to Macau then the gambling is also legal. And after winning your gambles, you have legal freedom to withdraw in any currency of the world. And you're also free to make an application to another country for a citizenship and buy a house and settle there. Globalization boys.
The Chinese government obviously didn't like it for a gazillion reasons. Biggest of them being all that money being pulled out of Chinese economy and the government's system to keep people inside is also failing. So last I heard is that Macau police are arresting certain people of the society for alleged money laundering. Those who are in on the actual system of laundering the money will be brought to justice sooner or later.