China's lottery sales up 10.8 pct in November

BEIJING -- China's lottery sales rose 10.8 percent year on year to 42.72 billion yuan (about $6.2 billion) in November, official data showed Tuesday.

Sales of welfare lottery tickets went up 1.6 percent from a year ago to 19.7 billion yuan, while sports lottery sales jumped 20.1 percent to about 23 billion yuan, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement.

Under China's lottery management rules, money from lottery ticket sales covers administrative fees, public welfare projects and prize money.

Twenty-four provincial regions posted year-on-year sales increases in the last month, with Shandong, Zhejiang and Henan leading the growth.

Total sales in the first 11 months of this year stood at 468.45 billion yuan, up 21 percent year on year.