China lottery sales went up in March after retailers reopened after a 105-day closure. Also, authorities fined an online gambling payment processor for allowing online gambling transactions.
The Ministry of Finance released the latest lottery sales reports that showed a total of $$1.5 billion in March. Although it was a 70 percent drop year-over-year, it was still an improvement from the dismal sales in February.
Retailers slowly resumed their operations last March after an extended temporary closure due to the coronavirus pandemic. Total lottery sales in the first three months of the year dropped by 64.5 percent to RMB37.7 billion.
China Lottery Sales Numbers
Sports lottery led all types of lotteries in China, with 64.5 percent of the total sales. The welfare lottery was in a close second, with 63.2 percent. Online casino analysts were surprised by the results since most organizers canceled significant sports events.
Based on online gambling South Korea sources, lottery operators in Beijing reopened earlier this week. It was the last region in the country to resume its operations. Also, reports showed sales slowed down.
However, retailers are hopeful that the start of the Bundesliga season in Germany will attract sports lottery players back to their shops.
In related news, China’s war against unauthorized online slot machines and gambling sites is still ongoing. Its latest victim is Allscore Payment Service Co. Ltd. It is a payment processor that’s 80 percent owned by Wirecard AG of Germany.
The People’s Bank of China imposed a $9.3 million fine on Allscore for processing transactions between online gambling sites and Chinese citizens. Also, the PBOC confiscated nearly RMB50 million of Allscore’s revenue coming from illegal transactions.
Aside from the company, PBOC penalized Allscore risk manager Zhang Yue and CEO Lin Yao for their roles in the transactions. They received stern warnings from the authorities.