China's lottery sales in 2010 rose 25.5 percent year-on-year to 166.25 billion yuan (US$25.14 billion), figures released Wednesday by the Ministry of Finance (MOF) showed.

Sales of welfare lottery tickets jumped 28 percent to 96.8 billion yuan while sales of sports lottery tickets hit 69.45 billion yuan, up 22.1 percent.

Lottery sales in December generated 17.19 billion yuan, up 29 percent year-on-year, the figures showed.

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

(Xinhua News Agency January 13, 2011)