BEIJING, March 2 (Xinhua) -- China's lottery sales rose 25.1 percent year-on-year to 47.96 billion yuan (7.2 billion U.S. dollars) in January, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF).
Sales of welfare lottery tickets edged up 9.7 percent from a year ago to 21.22 billion yuan, while sports lottery sales jumped 40.8 percent to 26.74 billion yuan, the MOF said in a statement.
Under China's lottery management rules, money from lottery ticket sales is used for administrative expenses, public welfare projects and prize money.
Twenty-seven provincial regions posted year-on-year sales increases in January, with Sichuan, Jiangsu and Shandong leading the sales growth.
China's total lottery sales in 2018 stood at 511.47 billion yuan, up 19.9 percent year on year.
