Computerized sales of Chinese welfare lottery tickets rose 11.2 percent year on year to 58.71 billion yuan (US$8.84 billion) in the first ten months of the year, China's lottery administration agency said Tuesday.

Sales in south China's Guangdong Province were the most of any province, with 5.84 billion yuan of lottery tickets sold, the China Welfare Lottery Distribution Administration Center (CWLDAC) said.

Computerized welfare lottery sales began in China in 2000. Sales have grown from 5 billion yuan in 2000 to an expected 70 billion yuan this year.

According to China's regulation on lotteries, money raised through lottery ticket sales is split into three parts: the jackpot, lottery-management fees, and lottery public funds.

(Xinhua News Agency November 16, 2010)