Even as the Turnbull government's hopes of ratifying a controversial extradition treaty with China faltered, the head of Beijing's powerful police ministry issued a call for more help from overseas law enforcement in China's crackdown on cross-border gambling, including casinos.
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Public Security Minister Guo Shengkun told a meeting in the Chinese capital that "work units and individuals who induce and organise tourists to visit overseas casinos" would be "seriously investigated and prosecuted".
Investments in overseas casinos would also be investigated and prosecuted, he said.
"The bureau should strengthen international cooperation in anti-gambling and step up overseas law enforcement cooperation and fugitive repatriation," state news agency Xinhua quoted Mr Guo as saying.
The comments were made as Mr Guo outlined a new phase of Operation Chain Break, China's two-year-old crackdown on cross-border gambling, that will target online gambling and payments through underground banks.
Crown employees, including its executive Jason O'Connor, remain in detention in Shanghai after being arrested last year for alleged crimes under China's gambling laws.
Australia's two biggest casino and resort operators, Crown and Star Entertainment Group, had heavily targeted VIP gambling from the Chinese mainland before the Crown arrests.
The two companies remain reliant on the Chinese tourism market for their resorts' businesses.
Star is building two new developments in Brisbane and Sydney with Hong Kong-based partners, targeting Chinese tourists.
Company records show that Star deregistered its subsidiary Echo Entertainment (Shanghai) in August 2016 amid the Chinese crackdown on casino marketing.
The meeting in Beijing discussed "forceful measures" to contain the spread of online gambling, which was described as being "against social morality" and inducing corruption.
Mr Guo called for the general public to be offered rewards for "reporting clues related to gambling".
Operation Chain Break would "dig deep and strike underground banks and online payment platforms who provide capital settlement to cross-border online gambling", he added.
