Following the closure of all casinos in a gambling-infested region bordering China and Myanmar, about 5,000 Chinese have returned home, the Beijing News reported yesterday.

Gambling is no longer legal in Maijayang, a small mountainous village of Kachin state, a haven for bettors from China and Myanmar till recently, the newspaper said.

According to the website Kachinnews.com, till yesterday some 5,000 Chinese, who include gamblers, traders, workers and shop owners, had returned home from Myanmar after local authorities shut down all casinos in the region.