China's lottery sales hit record high

China's lottery sales reached a record high of 224.45 billion yuan (36.54 billion U.S. dollars) in the first nine months of 2013, up 18.5 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Finance (MOF) on Monday.

Welfare lottery sales reached 128.06 billion yuan from January to September, an increase of 15.3 percent year on year. Sports lottery sales during the three quarters rose 23 percent year on year to 96.40 billion yuan.

Lottery sales in September alone reached 25.76 billion yuan, up 25.6 percent year on year. Welfare lottery sales last month hit 14.61 billion yuan, up 23.4 percent year on year. Sports lottery sales in September rose 28.6 percent year on year to reach 11.16 billion yuan.

The ministry attributed the jump in sales to the promotion of quiz-style games and more outlets for online lottery games.

Money raised through lotteries is used for the jackpot, management fees and public lottery funds.