China's lottery sales up 1.7 pct in first 11 months

BEIJING, Dec. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's lottery ticket sales rose 1.7 percent year on year to 575.62 billion yuan (about 81.55 billion U.S. dollars) in the first 11 months of the year, data from the Ministry of Finance showed.

Sales of lottery tickets that support the country's welfare system exceeded 191.28 billion yuan during the period, marking an increase of 1.3 percent from a year earlier.

Lottery ticket sales that are related to the sports industry rose 1.9 percent year on year to 384.34 billion yuan during the period, the ministry said.

In November, 52.59 billion yuan worth of lottery tickets were sold nationwide, down 0.2 percent year on year.

Under China's lottery management rules, funds raised from ticket sales are allocated to administrative expenses, public welfare projects, and to fund prizes. ■