China Welfare Lottery may record one of the largest first prizes this Wednesday.

China's lottery sales came in at 36.04 billion yuan ($5.52 billion) in November, down 4.6 percent from the same period last year, Xinhua cited data from the Ministry of Finance (MOF) as saying.

The gaming market in Cambodia is undergoing significant changes, with aims to improve the operating environment, transparency and market conditions, but Thailand is becoming increasingly worrisome, notes expert Daniel Li.

The Chinese government is closely monitoring the rapidly expanding lottery market, with many highly addictive lotteries being banned from sale in recent regulatory shift.

Figures released by the Chinese Ministry of Finance show that the country experienced a 2.5 percent year-on-year decrease in lottery ticket sales, amounting to RMB 50.54 billion ($7.1 billion) for the month of November. While sales of lottery tickets to support the country’s welfare system were up 29.5 percent to RMB 16.94 billion ($2.38 billion), sales to support the sports industry decreased 13.3 percent year-on-year to RMB 33.6 billion ($4.72 billion), the ministry said.

China’s lottery sales amounted to RMB 225.2 billion ($31.5 billion) from January to May 2023, representing a year-on-year increase of 50 percent.

Rising internet penetration has been driving a move in the traditional lottery business to online lotteries in jurisdictions where it is permitted and Covid has given this trend a further push, with research suggesting customers will stick with their digital adoption.

AGTech Holdings said its revenue in the 9 months to end-September gained 36.6 percent on the back of a rebound in the China lottery market.

Chinese lottery service provider AGTech Holdings saw its losses narrow approximately 60 percent in 1H21, compared to the previous corresponding period in 2020. 

China's lottery sales jumped 124 percent in Q1, compared with the same period a year earlier, lead by gains in the Sports Lottery.