China July lottery sales rise 19.8%

BEIJING -- China's lottery sales rose 19.8 percent year on year to 32.4 billion yuan ($4.8 billion) in July, official data showed Wednesday.

Sales of welfare lottery tickets increased 6.7 percent year on year to 16.6 billion yuan in July, while sports lottery sales jumped 37.6 percent to 15.8 billion yuan, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

July's lottery sales in the coastal province of Jiangsu rose by 725 million yuan year on year, while Shandong, Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong provinces also posted large increases, the statement said.

In the first seven months of 2016, total lottery sales stood at 226.7 billion yuan, an increase of 5.6 percent from a year earlier.

Under lottery management rules, money from ticket sales must cover administrative fees, public welfare projects and prize money.