On July 28 the Ministry of Finance reported June nationwide lottery sales at
75.98 bln yuan, up 21.50 bln yuan (+39.5% YoY), mainly driven by World Cup
football boosting betting-type lottery demand. Welfare lottery sales were 16.76
bln yuan, down 1.37 bln yuan (-7.6% YoY). Sports lottery sales were 59.22 bln
yuan, up 22.87 bln yuan (+62.9% YoY). For Jan–Jun, cumulative nationwide lottery
sales totaled 326.87 bln yuan, up 9.02 bln yuan (+2.8% YoY); welfare lottery
cumulative sales were 100.09 bln yuan, down 7.02 bln yuan (-6.6% YoY), and
sports lottery cumulative sales were 226.79 bln yuan, up 16.04 billion yuan (+7.6% YoY).