China August lottery sales up 10.4%

BEIJING - China's lottery sales rose 10.4 percent year on year to 31 billion yuan ($4.7 billion) in August, according to the Ministry of Finance.

Sales of welfare lottery tickets increased 5.8 percent year-on-year to 15.9 billion yuan in August, while sports lottery sales jumped 15.7 percent to 15.1 billion yuan, the ministry said in a statement.

August's lottery sales in Hunan Province rose by 439 million yuan year on year, while Shandong, Hubei, Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces also posted large increases, the statement said.

In the first eight months of 2016, total lottery sales stood at 257.7billion yuan, an increase of 6.1 percent from a year earlier.

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