The lottery in China was launched in 1987 and over the years it has contributed considerably to the country's social welfare, philanthropy and public sports. A report titled "Economic and Social Development of China in 2007" by National Bureau of Statistics of China states total lottery sales in 2007 exceeded 100 billion yuan (US$13.7 billion), an increase of 20% on the previous year and setting a 20-year record in China's lottery history.

According to the China Centre for Lottery Studies at Peking University, the potential for the lottery is enormous. At present it has over 100 million players and sales of US$15 billion but researchers say if the legal lottery could offer more exciting games and capture the money now spent on illegal lotteries, estimated to be around US$45 billion, then the market in time could be worth as much as US$150 billion, nearly three times the size of the world’s biggest lottery market, the United States.

Last week China’s State Council approved the drafting of the country’s first Lottery Act and is believed to be considering issuing a third major lottery licence, although this has been denied by officials. The 1987 licence was issued for welfare programmes and a licence to benefit sports programmes was issued in 1994. So far it is thought that only 18% of people in China have ever played the lottery, offering operators a huge growth potential. (E-27.04.09)

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