Sales of China's Welfare Lottery, the only national lottery approved by the government, have exceeded 40 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion) this year, up 22.7 percent over the same period last year, according to the country's lottery watchdog.

The lottery sales have also raised more than 13.7 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion) for the country's public welfare, said a spokesman with the China Welfare Lottery Management Center.

Accounting for 77 percent of the total sales, computer-based lottery ticket is the favorite way of investment for China's lottery buyers, the spokesman said.

The year 2007 marks the 20th anniversary of China's welfare industry.Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said at a ceremony in July that the welfare lottery industry had made great contributions to the nation's public welfare.

The lottery has pooled a total of 242.3 billion yuan over the past two decades, of which 80.9 billion yuan was earmarked for national public welfare fund, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

The ministry said the fund was mainly used for the development of social welfare facilities, education and health care for orphans, the elderly and the disabled. More than 10 million people have benefited from the fund, according to the ministry.

China's lottery market has expanded quickly over the last two decades but the China Welfare Lottery Management Center still describes the market penetration of the lottery in China as low.

In 2006, China's per capita lottery sale accounted for only 0.66 percent of the per capita net income, equivalent to only one to two percent of the world average.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10 2007)