Chinese Regulators Turn Attention to Sports Lottery Sales

Last week 500.com's online lottery operations were temporarily suspended by Chinese regulatory authorities and now additional suspensions have been reported. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd also suspended its online lottery sales on Tabao.com abiding by a request from welfare and sports lottery authorities, a separate organization under the government's Ministry of Civil Affairs. Tabao's Weibo advised, "We will redeem winning tickets already sold and clients who have pre-paid later rounds will get a refund in, at most, 5 working days." According to a spokesperson for the General Administration of Sport spoke to China Daily saying that it was focusing on illegal online sports lottery sales. New publication, China Daily reported an increase in Chinese online lottery sales, which has been attributed to the use of smartphones and the ease of conducting financial transactions using them. Sports lottery wagers are said to make up almost half of total lottery sales in China. As a means to raise money for the 1990 Asian Games in Beijing, the sports lottery was introduced with its net profits going back into the community through public welfare projects.