But this time it is not a short supply of daily necessities for which people are lining up for. Instead the city lottery is bringing out the crowds.

“With more spare money in their pockets as a result of China’s fast economic development, people are able to participate in the low input and high return game, a small amount of money for a possible 5 million yuan (US$602,000) prize,” said Ren Jun, director of the Beijing Sports Lottery Administration Center.

Either the willingness to do a little for social welfare projects or a desire to become overnight millionaires have attracted many capital residents to buy lottery tickets, Ren said.

“That’s part of the reason why Beijing has decided to open daily sports lottery tickets sales since May this year,” he said.

Beijing now has more than 1,200 sales outlets, employing some 3,000 people, Ren said.

Lottery sales have reached more than 20 million yuan (US$2.4 million) with each issue in the past several weeks, rising from 2 million yuan (US$240,000) for earlier issues.

After the cost of printing and selling tickets, 50 percent of the lottery revenues go towards prizes, Ren said.

The highest single prize, which has now reached 5 million yuan (US$602,000), has become a major temptation to money-dreaming locals.

But the lure of low-level gambling will not be a bad influence, since most know the chances of winning are very dim, he said.

Lotteries re-emerged around the country in 1987, partly due to the need to raise money for government spending, said Ma Mouchao, a researcher of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Before then, rewards for donations and lotteries were forbidden as they were considered gambling.

The state now has a lottery run by the Ministry of Civil Affairs to raise funds for welfare projects. Another smaller lottery falls under the wing of the State Sport General Administration to fund sports activities and facilities for the public.

“China’s lottery industry has entered a new phase of development,” Ma said.

More people playing the lottery means more money for welfare recipients, he said.

By the end of 1999, a total of 39.2 billion yuan (US$4.72 billion) in lottery tickets had been sold since its introduction, which helped collect more than 11.87 billion yuan (US$1.43 billion) in social welfare funds.

Some 1.5 billion yuan (US$180 million) has been turned over to the state for a special disaster relief fund and 8 billion yuan (US$963 million) has been spent on welfare projects.

“Welfare lottery has provided a driving force to China’s welfare development,” an official with the Ministry of Civil Affairs said.

From 1987-97, governments at all levels invested 1.41 billion yuan (US$169.8 million) into urban welfare facilities, while welfare lotteries provided 4.1 billion yuan (US$493 million) to facilities during the period.

With the lottery money, more than 81,000 projects, including special education for mentally-handicapped children, have been established across the country.

The welfare lottery has also indirectly pushed forward total economic development, Ma said.

A survey by the China Welfare Lottery Center indicated that lucky winners would not hesitate to spend their new riches.

It is estimated that nearly 4 billion yuan (US$481 million) would be spent on domestic consumption if 10 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in lottery tickets are sold each year.

(21dnn.com 12/11/2000)