Chinese welfare lottery launches campaign to improve

Last month’s announcement that China’s National Audit Office had discovered that 16.9 billion yuan raised through China’s lotteries in November and December last year had been embezzled or misused (see previous report) has been followed by the launch of a five-month improvement campaign by the Welfare Lottery – the nation’s biggest.

Launching the campaign, China’s Civil Affairs Minister Li Liguo said it will concentrate on the better regulation of ticket sales, many of which are sold online, closing loopholes in the management of lottery funds and generally stricter supervision and transparency

Big money is involved in the Welfare Lottery, which in 2014 claimed sales of 206 billion yuan (about US$ 33.6 billion)