BEIJING -- The annual sales volume of China's welfare lottery has exceeded 100 billion yuan ($15.6 billion) so far this year, the Ministry of Social Affairs (MCA) said Wednesday.

The MCA said in a news briefing that as of Oct 23, the sales volume of welfare lottery tickets reached 100.14 billion yuan, a 33-percent jump compared to the same period last year.

It was the first time for sales of China's welfare lottery to exceed 100 billion yuan. Around 96 billion yuan in welfare lottery tickets were sold in 2010, according to official data.

The ministry said that the aggregate sales volume of the welfare lottery exceeded 600 billion yuan since its debut in July 1987, collecting more than 200 billion yuan in public welfare funds that have benefited more than 200 million people around the country.