China’s lottery sales rose 24% in February, according to stats released this week by the Ministry of Finance.

Total lottery sales for the month hit RMB 24.8b (US $4b). Welfare lottery sales rose 10.7% to RMB 13b while sports lottery sales leaped 42.7% to RMB 11.8b. For January and February combined, sales are up 35.8% over the same period last year.

While the year-on-year gains are impressive, the figures for March will make for interesting reading. As of March 1, provincial lottery administration centers were ordered to suspend online sales after Beijing determined that some unscrupulous lottery agents weren’t reporting all sales. The ‘temporary’ suspension led to a precipitous drop in the share price of online-focused lottery operator 500.com.

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