Sports lottery sales reach 106b yuan in 2012

Annual sales of sports lottery tickets have exceeded 100 billion yuan ($16 billion) for the first time, China's sports authority said.

By Dec 20, China sports lottery had grossed 106.3 billion yuan in sales, raising 28.2 billion yuan for public welfare funds, Liu Peng, head of the General Administration of Sport of China, said at a conference on Wednesday.

Annual sales are expected to see an 18 percent increase compared with the 90.3 billion yuan registered last year, Liu said.

Total sales of sports lottery tickets in the last 10 years amounted to 508.7 billion yuan, raising 149 billion yuan for public welfare funds, Liu added.