Society
Spend a little, win a lot
By Qian Yanfeng (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-08-12 08:30
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SHANGHAI - A lucky winner scooped a staggering 259 million yuan ($38.23 million) lottery jackpot on Tuesday night after spending 200 yuan on a ticket for the China Welfare Lottery.
The winner, whose identity has not been revealed, has yet to come forward to claim the prize, the county's second biggest jackpot to date.
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Sun Zhimin, the owner of the outlet that sold the winning ticket on Dalian Road, Yangpu district, said he vaguely remembered the buyer as a man in his 40s with a local accent.
"I think he is a regular buyer who lives nearby," said Sun, whose small store became extremely popular with punters after it was announced where the winning ticket was sold.
"I hope the good fortune of this store will also bring me luck in winning the next big prize," said one ticket buyer, surnamed Chen.
The previous record lottery win from a single ticket in China was held by a man in Anyang, Central China's Henan province, who won 360 million yuan on Oct 8, 2009.
In response to the win, a number of Internet users have questioned the circumstances surrounding the draw, alleging that insiders might have manipulated the result.
However, Ma said it is natural for a single person to win such a big prize.
"When the amount of the top prize grows to a high level (with rollovers from previous draws that failed to produce a winner), more punters want to have a bet, which increases the chance of there being a winner," he said.
Feng Baiming, director of the Lottery Research Institute at Henan University of Finance and Economics, attributed the controversy over the jackpot win to a lack of transparency, saying there is "room for improvement" in the system.
He also said many netizens had gone too far in alleging the draw had been manipulated and that to win such a big lottery prize was a matter of luck.
