Gaming rules

A lottery craze swept the country. On January 9, 1999, when a new lottery was issued in Wenzhou, a city in Zhejiang province, sales hit 120 million yuan in a single day.

In October 2001, a football lottery, targeting the World Cup, was launched across the country, with the top prize reaching 5 million yuan. By the end of that year, in Guangdong province alone, the lottery produced 31 millionaires.

Despite booming sales, China's lottery market has lacked regulatoins. The government has relied solely on temporary administrative tools, which critics say has resulted in frauds and malpractices. Lotteries organized by unauthorized organizations have been rampant as well.