The Ministry of Finance issued the revised “Administrative Measures on Lottery Market Regulation Funds” to be implemented in 2027 in accordance with the new regulations

The Zhitong Finance App learned that on August 14, in accordance with the relevant regulations on national budget management and lottery administration, the Ministry of Finance revised the “Administrative Measures on Lottery Market Control Funds” in order to further strengthen and standardize the management of lottery funds and improve the efficiency of the use of funds in the lottery market. It was mentioned that the Ministry of Finance is responsible for formulating management measures for regulating the lottery market, determining the total annual budget size and distribution plan by province, clarifying overall performance goals, issuing budgets in accordance with procedures stipulated in budget management, and organizing and carrying out budget performance management. Funds for the regulation of the lottery market are distributed using the factor method, including three types of basic factors, guiding factors, and regulatory factors. Among them, basic factors (weight 25%) mainly include sub-factors such as total population, number of sales places, and distribution fees for local reserved lottery tickets. Guiding factors (50% weight) mainly include sub-factors such as annual sales volume and annual per capita sales of key support types or games, pilot demonstration results, and the effectiveness of the use of funds to regulate the lottery market. Regulatory factors (25% weight) mainly include sub-factors such as the local lottery market order situation, the regulatory use of funds in the lottery market, and the standardization and quality of fund declarations.

The original text is as follows:

Notice of the Ministry of Finance on Issuing the “Administrative Measures on Funds to Regulate the Lottery Market”

Financial Report [2026] No. 41

The finance departments (bureaus) of the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government, the China Welfare Lottery Distribution and Administration Center, and the Sports Lottery Management Center of the State Administration of Sports:

In order to further strengthen and standardize the management of lottery market regulation funds and improve the efficiency of the use of funds, the Ministry of Finance has revised the “Administrative Measures on Lottery Market Regulation and Control Funds” in accordance with the relevant regulations on national budget management and lottery administration. It is now being issued, so please follow the instructions.

<彩票市场调控资金管理办法>In order to ensure policy alignment, work such as the 2026 budget execution of the lottery market regulation fund continues to be carried out in accordance with the “Notice Issued by the Ministry of Finance” (Financial Planning (2021) No. 17), and budget reporting and execution for 2027 and beyond will be carried out in accordance with this Notice. In line with actual work, the 2027 budget submission period will be adjusted appropriately. Provincial finance departments are requested to submit application materials by August 14, 2026.

Ministry of Finance

July 24, 2026

Lottery Market Regulation Fund Management Measures

Article 1. In order to strengthen and standardize the management of funds in the lottery market, improve the efficiency of the use of funds, and promote the sustainable and healthy development of the national lottery business, these Measures are formulated in accordance with the “Budget Law of the People's Republic of China” and its implementing regulations, the “Lottery Administration Regulations” and their implementing rules, and the central government's management of local transfer funds.

Article 2. Funds for the regulation of the lottery market referred to in these Measures refer to funds allocated by the central government to coordinate the coordinated development of the national lottery market between provinces, agencies, and varieties, to strengthen the supervision of lottery tickets, ensure the safety of lottery ticket distribution and sales, maintain the order of the lottery market, promote the public welfare attributes and social responsibility of lottery tickets, etc., which are distributed and distributed by the central government through local transfer payment methods.

Article 3. Lottery market regulation funds are managed according to the following division of labor:

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for formulating the lottery market regulation fund management measures, determining the total annual budget size and distribution plan by province, clarifying overall performance targets, issuing budgets in accordance with the procedures stipulated in budget management, and organizing and carrying out budget performance management. The Ministry of Finance may organize or entrust a third party agency to carry out key performance evaluations according to work needs.

Lottery issuing agencies are responsible for establishing the system's market regulation and control mechanism, coordinating the actual situation of the national lottery market, reviewing the system's funding requirements, and submitting distribution proposals and performance target review opinions; studying and proposing allocation factors and weight adjustments in due course in line with the regulatory needs of the lottery market.

Provincial finance departments are responsible for coordinating the actual situation of the welfare lottery and sports lottery markets in the province, reviewing the funding requirements and performance targets of lottery ticket sales agencies, studying and proposing the province's funding requirements and regional performance targets; and responsible for the province's budget breakdown and issuance, fund supervision, and budget performance management.

Lottery sales agencies are responsible for carrying out their own lottery market regulation fund project reserves, declaring funding requirements, and proposing performance targets; specifically organizing budget execution and performance self-evaluation in accordance with the provisions of these Measures and the budgets and performance targets issued by provincial finance departments.

Article 4. The allocation and use of funds to regulate the lottery market shall follow the principles of objectivity and impartiality, coordination, focus on key points, and focus on performance, take into account the actual situation in each region in an integrated manner, favor regions that implement key tasks and have outstanding work results, and focus on supporting efforts such as optimizing the game structure of lottery types and preventing and mitigating market risks, so as to strongly promote the healthy development of the lottery business.

Article 5. The scope of use of funds to regulate the lottery market includes:

(1) Improve lottery supervisory capabilities. It is mainly used to organize and carry out risk investigation of lottery ticket sales activities, improve the ability to warn abnormal sales, carry out normalized supervision of illegal lottery ticket sales and other illegal acts in the lottery market; implement national lottery supervision requirements, organize and carry out related special work; and improve information technology methods for lottery supervision.

(2) Ensure the safety of lottery ticket distribution and sales. It is mainly used for the upgrade and transformation of business facilities such as special computer rooms, disaster recovery computer rooms, lottery lottery sites, lottery service sites, special lottery storage warehouses, sales systems, etc., as well as expenses such as the purchase and maintenance of special equipment for lottery betting.

(3) Maintain order in the lottery market. It is mainly used to strengthen the management of admission to lottery sales places, establish sales venue standards, conduct business training for consignors, standardize consignment sales practices, and cooperate with relevant departments to crack down on illegal lottery expenses.

(4) Carrying out public service publicity for lottery tickets. It is mainly used to publicize the public welfare attributes and social responsibility of the national lottery, publicize the credibility of the standardized management of the entire lottery process, and carry out lottery risk tips to guide rational and sustainable lottery purchasing behavior.

(5) Support innovation in lottery ticket distribution and sales business. It is mainly used for expenses such as carrying out pilot work or innovative development in lottery game products, sales channels, and business operations.

(6) If lottery ticket sales establishments suspend sales due to force majeure events, they need to maintain their basic operation and are subsidized for costs that are difficult to cover through local retention and distribution fees.

(7) Other expenses related to the regulation of the lottery market approved by the Ministry of Finance.

The scope of use of “carrying out public service promotion of lottery tickets” and “supporting innovation in lottery ticket distribution and sales business” mentioned above does not include lottery game distribution, promotion, and marketing activities.

The use of funds to regulate the lottery market should focus on key points, focus on implementing the relevant requirements of the country to promote the healthy development of the lottery market and strengthen supervision, and make a reasonable distinction between local withholding and issuing expenses. Lottery market regulation funds shall not be used for lottery agency personnel expenses, daily public expenses, purchase and maintenance of office equipment, “three public” expenses, expenses such as construction of buildings, repayment of debts, fines, donations, etc., as well as unapproved projects or other projects unrelated to the development of the lottery business. Other than the scope of use in section 6 above, it shall not be used for rent or operating subsidies for sales establishments.

Article 6. Funds for the regulation and control of the lottery market shall be distributed according to the factor method, including three categories of basic factors, guiding factors, and regulatory factors.

Basic factors (weight 25%) mainly include sub-factors such as the total population, number of sales places, and distribution fees for local reserved lottery tickets. The local lottery ticket issuance fee mentioned above refers to distribution fees other than the operating expenses of lottery ticket issuing agencies paid to the central financial administration.

Guiding factors (50% weight) mainly include sub-factors such as annual sales volume and annual per capita sales of key support types or games, pilot demonstration results, and the effectiveness of the use of funds to regulate the lottery market. The above key support types or games shall be determined by the Ministry of Finance based on actual lottery supervision and the recommendations of lottery issuers; pilot demonstration refers to pilot work clearly carried out by the Ministry of Finance or work relating to the formation of nationally significant institutional mechanism innovation demonstration results.

Regulatory factors (25% weight) mainly include sub-factors such as the local lottery market order situation, the regulatory use of funds in the lottery market, and the standardization and quality of fund declarations.

The Ministry of Finance can study, determine and adjust the sub-factors of the above three factors in due course, taking into account the actual work involved and the suggestions of lottery ticket issuers.

Article 7 The Ministry of Finance reviews and scores the self-evaluation results of lottery market regulation funds submitted by provincial finance departments, and sets performance evaluation adjustment factors on this basis to make appropriate adjustments to fund allocations. The performance evaluation adjustment coefficient is calculated according to the following table:

Article 8. The Ministry of Finance calculates and arranges funds by province according to the following formula:

Financial subsidy ratio in a province = basic factors in a certain province/basic factors in a province × 25% +guiding factors in a certain province/guiding factors in a relevant province × 50% +regulatory factors in a certain province/relevant province regulatory factors × 25%

A province's allocation = total annual budget for lottery market regulation funds × a province's funding subsidy ratio × performance evaluation adjustment coefficient/( relevant province's funding subsidy ratio × performance evaluation adjustment coefficient)

If the allocation for a province calculated by the above formula is greater than the number of its capital requirements declared, funds are issued according to the declared amount.

Article 9. Lottery market regulation funds are applied for in accordance with the following procedures:

In accordance with the scope of use of lottery market regulation funds stipulated in these Measures, lottery ticket sales agencies propose the content, funding requirements, and performance targets of the projects to be organized and carried out in the budget year, and also provide relevant information on the management and use of funds in the previous year, etc., and submit them to the provincial financial department for review.

Provincial finance departments coordinate the actual situation of the welfare lottery and sports lottery markets in the region, review the funding requirements of lottery ticket sales agencies, study and propose the province's funding requirements based on key annual lottery supervision tasks and project reserves, and submit paper documents and electronic documents of application materials to the Ministry of Finance by July 31 of each year. The application materials shall include: information relating to the management and use of funds in the previous year, including classification and explanation of project organization and implementation, use of funds, work results, etc. in comparison with the scope of use stipulated in Article 5; pilot demonstration results, local lottery market order, and compliant use of funds. The content, necessity and feasibility of the projects to be organized and carried out in the budget year, capital requirements, regional performance targets, expected results, etc. Other materials requested by the Ministry of Finance. The above content includes the overall situation in the province, the situation of the bonus lottery and sports lottery systems.

The Ministry of Finance promptly forwards the relevant application materials to the lottery issuing agency. Lottery issuing agencies shall formulate lottery market regulation goals and measures based on the system's lottery business development plan, annual lottery ticket distribution and sales key tasks, implementation of lottery market regulation funds in the previous year, etc., review the status and funding requirements of the system, submit recommended fund allocation plans and performance target review opinions, and provide basic data for estimating relevant funds, including the number of sales places in the system by province in the previous year, the amount of lottery ticket distribution fees retained by province, and the sales volume of game lottery ticket sales by province by province, pilot demonstration results for each province and lottery market regulation funds The results of use, regulation of the lottery market order, standardization and quality ratings of fund declarations, etc., as well as other materials required to be submitted by the Ministry of Finance, are submitted in writing to the Ministry of Finance before August 31 of each year.

Provincial financial departments, lottery ticket distribution agencies, and lottery ticket sales agencies are each responsible for the authenticity and accuracy of relevant application materials and basic calculation data.

Article 10. The lottery market regulation fund budget is distributed and issued in accordance with the following procedures:

The Ministry of Finance reasonably determines the total budget size and overall performance target for the lottery market regulation fund for the next year based on the development status of the lottery market, the funding requirements proposed by provincial finance departments, the review opinions on the distribution plan and performance targets proposed by lottery ticket issuers, etc., and determines the budget amount by province in accordance with the provisions of these Measures.

In accordance with the Budget Law and relevant regulations on budget management, the Ministry of Finance issues the lottery market regulation budget for the next year in advance before October 31 of each year, and officially issues the capital budget and performance targets within 90 days after the National People's Congress approves the budget, and copies them to the lottery issuing agency and the relevant supervisory authority of the Ministry of Finance.

After receiving the financial budget, the provincial finance department shall rationally allocate, break down and issue the budget and performance targets within 30 days, and copy them to the local supervisory authority of the Ministry of Finance.

Lottery sales agencies should prepare fund use project reserves in accordance with relevant budget management regulations, focus on implementing major decisions and arrangements, prioritize priorities, and establish a project bank that conforms to reality, has sufficient reserves, and is practical. Provincial finance departments shall review the project bank in accordance with budget management regulations. In principle, projects not included in the project bank shall not arrange budgets. The project shall be uniformly organized and implemented by lottery sales agencies. Each region can determine the participants in the project in an integrated manner, taking into account the actual situation and the division of responsibilities for lottery supervision, and use the funds in accordance with budget management regulations.

Article 11 Financial departments, lottery ticket distribution agencies, and lottery ticket sales agencies at all levels shall, in accordance with the requirements for fully implementing budget performance management, strengthen performance target management, do a good job of performance monitoring and performance evaluation, and strengthen the application of evaluation results.

After the implementation of the annual budget is completed, provincial finance departments shall organize lottery ticket sales agencies to conduct performance self-evaluations against performance targets, coordinate the overall use of funds in the lottery market, form a provincial capital performance self-assessment report, submit materials relating to the performance self-assessment in a timely manner, and not replace regional performance self-assessments with self-assessments of lottery ticket sales agencies.

Provincial financial departments and lottery ticket sales agencies are responsible and implementing entities for the self-evaluation of performance. They should ensure that the self-evaluation results are true, accurate, and objective, and that falsification is strictly prohibited.

Article 12 Financial departments, lottery ticket distributors, and lottery ticket sales agencies at all levels shall allocate and use funds in accordance with the law and regulations in accordance with the relevant regulations on budget and treasury management, standardize budget execution, strengthen internal control, prevent and mitigate all kinds of risks in a timely manner, not withhold, crowd out, or misappropriate funds, expand the scope of expenditure and raise expenditure standards without authorization. In the process of using funds, where government procurement is involved, it shall be carried out in accordance with relevant government procurement laws, regulations and systems. In principle, the implementation of lottery market regulation funds should be completed in the current year, and funds not spent in that year are managed in accordance with the relevant regulations on the management of carry-over balance funds.

Article 13 The lottery market regulation funds are subject to supervision by financial, auditing and other departments in accordance with law. Financial departments, lottery ticket distributors, and lottery ticket sales agencies at all levels should strengthen supervision and management of the use of funds in the lottery market, carry out financial supervision and inspection in accordance with law and regulations, promptly detect and correct relevant issues, and ensure the safety of funds. Lottery market regulation funds are included in the scope of normalized budget supervision. Financial departments at all levels rely on the integrated budget management system transfer monitoring module to strengthen normalized supervision of budget execution. Problems discovered are dealt with in a timely manner, and further measures such as recovering disbursed funds and reducing the budget are taken to strengthen supervision according to the situation. Local supervisory authorities of the Ministry of Finance supervise the management of the use of funds to regulate the lottery market in accordance with their duties and the requirements of the Ministry of Finance.

Article 14 Where financial departments at all levels, lottery ticket distribution agencies, lottery ticket sales agencies and their staff commit acts such as abuse of authority, neglect of duty, favoritism and fraud in the allocation, use, supervision, etc. of funds, they shall be prosecuted for corresponding liability in accordance with law.

Article 15. Provincial financial departments may formulate specific implementation measures in accordance with these Measures and taking into account the actual situation in the region.

Article 16 These Measures take effect from the date of promulgation, and the implementation period is 5 years.

This article was selected from the “Ministry of Finance” official website, Zhitong Finance Editor: Chen Siyu.