Chinese Lotteries

China's lottery began in June 1987. Although the government recognizes the China Welfare Lottery as the official lottery of China, a legal sports lottery which began in 1995 operates alongside it under heavy taxation. Lottery game offerings include lotto, numbers, sports betting games and instant tickets.

The Ministry of Finance, China Welfare Lottery Issuance Centre (CWLC), Ministry of Civil Affairs, General Administration of Sport, and Ministry of Public Security all share regulatory duties over lottery operations.

The Chinese lottery rolled out video lottery terminals to the public in 2002. The machines are now widespread throughout the country and are networked and centrally controlled.

Lottery revenue is a major source of income for public welfare programs. The government briefly experimented with a horse-racing lottery product in 2008.

In July 2009, the Chinese government implemented new regulations targeting local lottery providers in order to boost the industry, insure transparency and prevent fraud.