MACAU will stop approving land for new casinos, slowing a gaming explosion that threatened social stability and lured companies including MGM Mirage and Las Vegas Sands Corp to spend billions of dollars building resorts.

Macau, where casinos are legal, will also stop granting new casino licenses, limiting the number of operators to six "for a period," the government said in a statement, citing Chief Executive Edmund Ho who was responding to law makers' questions at the city's Legislative Assembly yesterday.

The city, which in 2006 overtook the Las Vegas Strip as the world's biggest gambling hub, last year faced labor union protests against the industry, Bloomberg News said. The number of Macau casinos has more than doubled to 29 since the government ended billionaire Stanley Ho's 40-year monopoly over the gaming industry.

Las Vegas Sands last year opened the world's largest casino in Macau.