Chinese Lotteries
There are two types of lotteries in China - welfare lottery and sports lottery. The Chinese government has granted rights to operate these two types of lotteries for civic and sports welfare purposes.
The China Welfare Lottery Issuance Center (CWLC), which runs the welfare lottery, was authorized to issue lottery tickets in June 1987. Meanwhile, the China Sports Lottery Administration Center (CSAC), which runs the sports lottery, was authorized in1994. No one else can issue lottery tickets in China other than these two agencies.
From the total lottery proceeds, 50% goes to the prize pool, 35% to the social fund and 15% to lottery operations.
China's total lottery sales revenue has been enjoying rapid growth in recent years. It reached a record high of 81.93 billion Yuan (about US$10.5 billion) in 2006, an increase of 10.54 billion Yuan from 2005's 71 billion Yuan (about US $8.6 billion), reports by the Chinese Finance Ministry show.
China's lottery market will reach 200 billion Yuan (US$25 billion) in 2008, analysts forecast.
About 229 million Yuan (US$29.5 million) of lottery tickets were sold in China in 2006 everyday. This excludes the eight days around the Chinese New Year holidays when lottery sales were suspended.
That same year, China raised 27.76 billion Yuan (US$3.57 billion) in public welfare funds from lottery sales, 12.3 percent more than the previous year.
The finance ministry said the fund was equally shared by the central government and the local governments, which were mainly used for social welfare, such as the development of public sports facilities, education and health care for the handicapped. A large part also went to the social security fund to fill its deficit.
China has been using funds raised from lotteries for civic purposes as early as 205 and 187 B.C. during the Han Dynasty. It is widely believed that the Keno, a lottery-like game still popular in today's casinos, originated at the time. Proceeds were used to finance government projects like the Great Wall of China.