rding to data posted by the Ministry of Finance of China, lottery sales experienced a significant year-on-year increase of 9.6%, reaching a total of $5.5bn.

For the first four months of 2017, sports lottery sales reported a rise of 15.2% to $2.8bn, whilst welfare lottery tickets experienced a 4.3% increase to $2.7bn.

The provinces of Guangdong, Hubei, Hunan, Henan and Yunnan each saw their lottery sales value rise by more than $292m.

Guangdong has maintained its position as the leading lottery market in mainland China with a combined sales of welfare and sports lottery tickets up 2.7% from the year-prior.

China ordered a “temporary suspension” of all online lottery sales over two years ago after uncovering widespread fraud at provincial lottery administration centres. However, there is yet to be any progress in lifting the ban since the implementation, much to the frustration of companies such as 500.com.

Last week, it was reported that China was looking to develop a domestic football lottery, with analysts saying there is a high possibility of this coming to fruition.