Having lost a fortune, Ren's on a mission to save China's gambling addicts

China may not have a team to champion in the World Cup but a hero has emerged among the tens of thousands addicted to betting on Germany 2006. Ren Jia, a self-made multi-millionaire who lost it all by betting on football, is ignoring death threats to publicly condemn gambling and offer counselling to those who face financial ruin over the next few weeks.

'Gambling is society's new evil,' the 36-year-old entrepreneur said.

Though illegal, millions of Chinese are estimated to be staking billions of yuan on games via shady agents and loansharks who use the telephone and internet for transactions.

Ren arrived in the capital 10 years ago with 1,400 yuan in his pocket and built with a partner a thriving conference business.

But he became addicted to gambling during the 2002 World Cup and a tail-spin into financial ruin followed. He lost his business, four properties and nearly his family to pay his debts to loansharks, who work in tandem with the illegal bookies.

'I won 40,000 yuan during the South Korea and Japan tournament and then spent the next three years losing everything on the major European football leagues.

'You get sucked in and then have to borrow easy money at high rates because illegal gambling is run like a pyramid scheme by the agents. It becomes uncontrollable. I lost three million yuan,' he said.