The Chinese Embassy in Colombo says it has intensified joint law-enforcement work with Sri Lanka since the beginning of 2026 in response to telecom fraud, online gambling and other “criminal grey and black industries” relocating to the island from other countries, Ada Derana reported.
In a statement, the embassy said it had stepped up coordination with Sri Lanka’s Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance and Public Security, while police and security agencies on both sides “deepened practical cooperation.” Sri Lankan authorities, it said, have carried out multiple investigations and crackdowns, dismantled “a number of gambling and fraud dens” and arrested suspects from several countries. A number of Chinese nationals implicated in fraud-related crimes have already been handed back to Chinese authorities, the embassy added, calling the transfers a “strong deterrent.”
China has run parallel law-enforcement cooperation with Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Myanmar and Cambodia, leading to the arrest and repatriation of large numbers of overseas fraud suspects, the statement said. Beijing has separately proposed that affected countries create an international alliance against telecom and online fraud to coordinate a “joint-action global framework” against the cross-border industry.
The embassy reiterated that Chinese policy on cross-border gambling is “consistent and unequivocal” — Chinese capital is barred from investing in overseas casinos, Chinese citizens are barred from operating them, and overseas casinos are forbidden from soliciting Chinese gamblers. Amendments to China’s Criminal Law have criminalised cross-border gambling, it noted, warning that “tens of thousands” of Chinese citizens have suffered property losses and personal harm linked to such activity, with downstream offences including money laundering, kidnapping, unlawful detention, human trafficking and illegal border crossings.
Sri Lanka has emerged this year as a frontline jurisdiction in the regional shift of cyber-scam operations out of Myanmar’s compounds and Cambodian centres, with BIA Customs and police repeatedly intercepting Chinese nationals arriving with bulk mobile phones and concealed electronics used to run fraud and recruitment rings.
In a follow-up statement carried by The Island on Saturday, the embassy added that without “firm and immediate measures” the spread of illegal gambling and fraud could damage Sri Lanka’s international image, undermine social stability and harm public safety. It pledged to “actively implement the Global Security Initiative and Global Civilization Initiative” through continued cooperation with Colombo, framing the joint work as part of a broader effort to build a “clean, safe and beautiful Sri Lanka.”
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