The welfare lottery featuring the Shanghai World Expo is to go on sale Friday, with all funds going to support reconstruction in quake-hit Sichuan Province, a notice on the expo's official website said.

The first batch of the lottery will be on sale at Century Square on East Nanjing Road on Friday. The notice said the lottery would be distributed all over the country soon, but it did not reveal a detailed schedule.

The first batch consists of 17 pictures under four themes, portraying expo venues, expo mascot "Haibao", and Shanghai landmarks including "the Bund".

All the funds raised through selling the lottery will be donated to back up the reconstruction work in Sichuan, which was devastated by an 8-magnitude earthquake on May 12 last year, leaving more than 80,000 people dead or missing, it said.

With five yuan, 10 yuan and 20 yuan value tickets, the lottery will be available at all franchise goods shops for Shanghai World Expo, alongside conventional welfare lottery vending storefronts.

The distribution of the lottery was approved by the Ministry of Finance.

The expo is scheduled to run from May 1 to October 31 in 2010. The quinquennial event is to be held for the first time in China, and is expected to attract 70 million visitors. So far, 241 countries and international organizations have confirmed their participation.

(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2009)