BEIJING — China's lottery sales came in at 34.61 billion yuan (about $5.36 billion) in June, increasing by 1.04 billion yuan from the same period last year, data from the Ministry of Finance showed.

Sales of welfare lottery tickets totaled 11.22 billion yuan in June, while sports lottery sales came in at nearly 23.39 billion yuan, according to the ministry.

In the first six months, lottery sales amounted to nearly 178.44 billion yuan, involving 67.7 billion yuan of welfare lottery sales and 110.74 billion yuan of sports lottery sales.

Under China's lottery management rules, money from ticket sales is used for administrative expenses, public welfare projects and prize winnings.