China’s lottery sales took a slight dip in June but sales remain up over the first half of 2017.

On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Finance announced that mainland lottery sales fell 0.3% year-on-year to RMB 33.8b (US $5b) in the month of June. In a reversal of recent trends, welfare lottery sales rose 8.8% to RMB 17.8b while sports lottery figures declined 8.9% to RMB 16b.

For the first half of 2017, overall sales are up 5.5% to RMB 205b, with the welfare lottery up 3.7% to RMB 106.1b and sports lottery sales up 7.6% to RMB 98.9b. The Ministry reported H1 sales gains in 24 of the 31 mainland provinces and municipalities authorized to sell lottery products.

Just over China’s southern border in Myanmar, the government has announced that it might allow international firms to play a role in the country’s launch of digital lottery sales.