Billionaire Stephen Wynn opened a US$1bn (£0.52bn, 0.78bn euro) hotel-casino yesterday in the Chinese territory of Macau.

The crescent-shaped property will be a smaller replica of Wynn’s Las Vegas resort and is part of a reported US$20bn (£10.5bn, 15.6bn euro) worth of casino construction taking place in Macau.

Wynn Resorts is one of only a handful of Las Vegas companies to be allowed to develop and open properties in the territory. US gaming group MGM Mirage also plans to open the MGM Grand Macau.

Las Vegas Sands Corporation (LVS), which opened the Sands Macau casino in May 2004, is currently building a 3,000-room Venetian Macao, due to open in the second quarter of 2007.

While casinos have been legal in Macau since the mid-19th century, the development boom on the territory began when it was returned to Chinese rule in 1999 following 440 years as a Portuguese colony. Details: www.wynnlasvegas.com