BEIJING, March 3 (Xinhua) -- China's lottery ticket sales showed a year-on-year increase of 73.3 percent in January, topping 57.56 billion yuan (about 8.1 billion U.S. dollars), data from the Ministry of Finance showed.

Sales of lottery tickets to support the welfare system came in at 19.69 billion yuan in January, marking a surge of 81.6 percent year-on-year.

Lottery tickets sold to support the sports sector rose by 15.49 billion yuan, or 69.2 percent year on year, to 37.87 billion yuan.

Under China's lottery management rules, funds raised from ticket sales are used for administrative expenses, public welfare projects and to fund prizes. ■

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