He became 5 million yuan (625,000 US dollars) richer in a matter of minutes when he scooped the fifth such prize in the China Computer Welfare Lottery this year.

"I saved money so that I could buy lottery tickets sometimes, and hoped that one day I would hit the jackpot -- my dream has finally come true," said Zhang.

"Now I can help my parents get medical treatment and I will send my children back to school to continue their studies."

In nowadays China, everyday there are five ordinary people likeZhang who become suddenly rich overnight through welfare lotteries,either from China Computer Welfare Lottery or China Computer Sports Lottery.

China Lottery Network, the country's largest professional lottery counseling website, is full of the exciting stories of overnight wealth with headlines like "Laid-off worker from SichuanProvince wins 5 million yuan," "Coal miner scoops 3.15 million yuan" and "Laborer's luck brings million yuan."

Official statistics show that there were 817 million-yuan prizewinners of the China Computer Sports Lottery, of whom 354 won the 5-million-yuan top prize. More than 1,000 people became millionaires through China Computer Welfare Lottery.

China launched its first lottery in June 1987, and total sales of the welfare and sports lotteries over the past 15 years amount to 95 billion yuan (11.87 billion US dollars). Sales of lottery tickets reached 28 billion yuan (3.5 billion US dollars) in 2001, over 10 billion yuan (1.2 billion US dollars) more than in 2000.

With the debut of "Tibet Fengcai" welfare lottery in Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, in 2001, the China Computer Welfare Lottery reached more than 95 percent of counties and cities of China.

An official report indicated that over 60 percent of residents in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan have purchased lottery tickets.

"Have you bought a lottery ticket?" has become a greeting amongmany people and how to spend 5 million yuan has become the dinner table conversation of many families.

With the upsurge in ticket sales, the frequency of the lotteries have changed from once to twice a week, while the lure of easy riches has spurred more people to play.

Lotteries in China, where gambling is forbidden, are one of themajor sources of funds-raising for the country's social welfare programs.

Inscribed on the "Tablet of Merits and Virtues" in front of theTaiyuan Social Welfare Institute in Taiyuan, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, are following words: "The construction ofthis institute cost 35.2 million yuan, of which 2 million yuan is donated from the welfare lottery."

Half of the lottery takings are used as prize money, 20 percentcovers lottery costs, and the other 30 percent is used for social welfare.

"Individual benefit and social welfare receive consistent support from the lotteries, which is good for public morale," saidZhou Zhihong, of the Psychology Institute of the Chinese Academy of Science.

So far, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the State Sport General Administration have raised more than 12 billion yuan (1.5 billion US dollars) and over four billion yuan (500,000 US dollars)respectively through lotteries.

World Lottery Association statistics showed that more than 150 countries have lotteries and the lottery industry, growing at 18 percent each year, has become the sixth largest industry in the world.

The amount of lottery tickets issued in China ranked 12th internationally. However, due to the huge population, spending by each Chinese is only six yuan, only 97th in the world, said authorities.

Only 10 percent of Chinese people have bought lottery tickets, compared to 85 percent in the United States, 64 percent in France and 70 percent in Japan.

With economic and cultural development, lottery sales in China will reach 84.6 billion yuan (10.57 billion US dollars) in 10 years, according to the Development Research Center of the State Council.

Amid the "lottery rush", China's legislators are calling for the introduction of a law on lotteries to avoid unfair competitionand issuance.

Ordinary Chinese are eager to improve their standard of living and lotteries are the shortcut to overnight riches, said experts.

( August 13, 2002)