Ministry of Finance reported August national lottery sales totaled 63.985 bln
yuan, up 10.584 bln yuan YoY, a 19.8% increase, mainly driven by World
Cup-related demand for betting-type tickets. Welfare lottery sales were 15.809
bln yuan, down 1.465 bln yuan YoY (-8.5%). Sports lottery sales were 48.176 bln
yuan, up 12.049 bln yuan YoY (+33.4%). Jan–Aug cumulative lottery sales reached
478.431 bln yuan, up 55.226 bln yuan YoY (+13.0%); cumulative welfare sales
131.529 bln yuan, down 10.782 bln yuan YoY (-7.6%); cumulative sports sales
346.901 bln yuan, up 66.009 bln yuan YoY (+23.5%).