Economy

China's Q1 lottery sales up 34 pct: ministry

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-04-18 20:43

BEIJING - China's first-quarter lottery sales rose 33.8 percent year-on-year to reach 46.31 billion yuan (about $7.09 billion ), the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced Monday.

Sales of welfare lottery tickets in the first three months jumped 34.4 percent year-on-year to 27.15 billion yuan while sales of sports lottery tickets rose 32.9 percent year-on-year to 19.17 billion yuan.

In March alone, lottery sales reached 19.01 billion yuan,  up 43.5 percent from the same period last year, the MOF said in a statement on its website.

According to China's Regulations on Lottery Management, funds generated through lotteries are divided into three parts: the jackpot, lottery management fees, and lottery public funds which should be spent as stipulated on financing social welfare causes.