The dream of instant wealth continued to fuel the rapid growth in China's lottery sales in April, Ministry of Finance statistics showed Friday.

Lotteries earned 14.1 billion yuan (US$2.1 billion) in April, an increase of 23.1 percent year on year, the ministry said.

From January to April, lottery sales rose 24.1 percent year on year to 48.73 billion yuan (US$7.13 billion), according to the ministry.

According to China's Regulations on Lottery Management, the money raised through lotteries is divided into three parts: the jackpot; lottery management fees; and lottery public funds.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2010)