The gross receipts of Macao's 19 casinos saw a year-on-year rise of 16.5 percent in the first quarter, The Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau (GICB) announced Thursday.

The receipts stood at 12.35 billion patacas (1.54 billion U.S. dollars) at the end of the season, said the GICB announcement.

Baccarat remained the top generator of the casino business, dedicating 10.52 billion patacas (1.32 billion U.S. dollars) in the three months, it added.

The government of the Macao Special Administrative Region has collected 4.41 billion patacas (551 million U.S. dollars) in direct gaming taxes in the first quarter, a year-on-year rise of 15 percent, according to the statistics issued by the Finance Services Bureau earlier this week.

Macao's 19 casinos pay 35 percent of their gross receipts as direct tax to the government.

The region, with a population of over 480,000, has a 150-year history of gaming industry and is the only part of China where casino gaming is legitimate.

Source: Xinhua