BEIJING: The world’s largest casino space boasting a 50,000 square metres of floor space was opened in Macao, considered as an emerging global gambling centre.

The $ 2.4 billion casino and hotel complex is owned by American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, further boosting the southern Chinese city’s claim to be a major global gambling centre, surpassing even the Las Vegas Strip.

The Venetian boasts what it claims to be the world’s largest gaming space of 50,000 sq metres, housing 3,400 slot machines - with room to expand to 6,000 - and more than 800 gambling tables.

It has 3,000 rooms, a 15,000-seat sports arena, retail space for 350 stores, 108,000 sq metres of convention space, fine dining and a Cirque du Soleil-produced show, the China Daily reported. Its decor aims to replicate the beauty of Venice - with a Chinese touch. Chinese-style sampans as well as gondolas will sail down canals.

The resort also features a replica of Venice’s St Mark’s Square, the report said. Macao, a former Portuguese colony, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China since April 2000, is the only place in the country where casinos are legal.

This week, a Chinese court in Shanghai, sentenced a South Korean national to two years in prison for running an illegal on-line casino.