Chinese lottery technology firm China LotSynergy Holdings (CLH) has won a nearly $200m court victory over a state-owned firm’s ongoing use of CLH’s video lottery terminals (VLT).

On Monday, the Hong Kong-listed CLH informed the markets that the People’s High Court of Beijing had issued a ruling on August 10 that awarded a CLH subsidiary “cooperation remuneration” of RMB1.36b (US$197.3m) plus interest based on a dispute over another company’s use of CLH’s VLTs following the expiration of a contract.

In 2005, CLH subsidiary Dongguan Tianyi Electronics Company Ltd (DGTY) reached a 10-year deal with Beijing China Lottery Online Technology Company Ltd (CLO) for the use of DGTY’s VLTs. The deal expired in June 2015, but CLO continued to use the 41,500 VLTs without paying DGTY the required remuneration.

It should be noted that the VLTs in question aren’t the quasi slot machines that operate in non-Asian markets, but simply permit the digital sale of welfare lottery products. Non-lottery gambling products are strictly illegal under Chinese law, with the exceptions of horseracing and casinos in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau.