SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Chinese government auditors are to check the management and use of lottery funds, amid growing scepticism of approved national lottery operators.
Officials from the China Audit Office have been sent to 18 provinces in order to review the management and expenditure of funds accumulated through lottery services. The review will focus on China’s two state lotteries – The Welfare Lottery and The Chinese Sports Lottery.
China’s lottery sales in October hit 32.7 billion yuan (US$5.3 billion), up 20.3 percent yearon year, the Ministry of Finance announced yesterday. Welfare lottery sales reached 17.75billion yuan, up 14.5 percent year on year. Sports lottery sales rose 27.9 percent year onyear to 14.95 billion yuan.
Governmental concerns were raised with regards to the management of funds, as several provinces had failed to report performance with regards to administrative fees and fund generation.
After an initial investigation, the Chinese government had found that seven cities had misused lottery generated funds on unapproved public welfare projects.
The misuse of lottery funds has been well documented by Chinese and Asian news sources, including revelations that funds to build a training centre for the Chinese Welfare lottery employees had been mis-allocated to create a luxury hotel for public servants.
The scandals have further raised scepticism by Chinese consumers on the use of the public lottery funds and the lack of transparency by lottery operators.
