Chinese Mandarin - Sales of welfare lottery hit 40b yuan in 2007

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Sports / China

Sales of welfare lottery hit 40b yuan in 2007

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-09-09 16:26

Sales of China's Welfare Lottery, the only national lottery approved by
the government, have exceeded 40 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) this year,
up 22.7 percent over the same period last year, according to the
country's lottery watchdog.

The lottery sales have also raised more than 13.7 billion yuan (US$1.8
billion) for the country's public welfare, said a spokesman with the
China Welfare Lottery Management Center.

Accounting for 77 percent of the total sales, computer-based lottery
ticket is the favorite way of investment for China's lottery buyers, the
spokesman said.

The year 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of China's welfare industry.Vice
Premier Hui Liangyu said at a ceremony in July that the welfare lottery
industry had made great contributions to the nation's public welfare.

The lottery has pooled a total of 242.3 billion yuan over the past two
decades, of which 80.9 billion yuan was earmarked for national public
welfare fund, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The ministry said the fund was mainly used for the development of social
welfare facilities, education and health care for orphans, the elderly
and the disabled. More than 10 million people have benefited from the
fund, according to the ministry.

China's lottery market has expanded quickly over the last two decades but
the China Welfare Lottery Management Center still describes the market
penetration of the lottery in China as low.

In 2006, China's per capita lottery sale accounted for only 0.66 percent
of the per capita net income, equivalent to only one to two percent of
the world average.

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