Chinese Regulators Call for Halt to Online Lottery Sales
Chengdu Business Daily, 8/25/10
The General Administration of Sport of China (GASC) and the China Welfare Lottery Distribution Administration Center have issued separate emergency notices declaring the immediate halt of online lottery ticket sales and other digital-based lottery business. The two organizations have begun investigations and have requested that telephone-based lottery distribution agents cease purchasing tickets online.
At the time of publication, a number of well-known domestic online lottery websites continued to operate normally and had not complied with the request to cease digital-based lottery services.
Between November 6, 2007 and January 2, 2008, China's Ministry of Finance and other government agencies twice issued similar declarations but with little or no impact.
Some domestic lottery ticket sales firms have formed an industry association, the "China Lottery Ticket Industry Salon." Yesterday, a spokesperson for the Salon said that for the most part the industry is taking a wait-and-see approach, and is unlikely to take the initiative in closing those services. The spokesperson added that stopping digital-based lottery sales depends on industry cooperation.
Keywords: regulation China Welfare Lottery Distribution Administration Center Internet online lottery Ministry of Finance GASC industry association
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