China's sports lottery rose 5 percent to 14.5 billion yuan in April，while welfare lottery sales increased by 2.2 percent to reach 18.1 billion yuan,the Ministry of Finance (MOF) announced.

The total lottery sales increased to 32.6 billion yuan (5.33 billion U.S. dollars) in April, up 3.4 percent year on year, official data showed on Thursday.

Combined lottery sales in the first four months of this year amounted to 127.4 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.2 percent.

Under lottery management rules, money from ticket sales must cover administrative fees and public welfare projects, as well as the jackpot.

Earlier in April, the MOF banned unauthorized online lottery sales. Some Internet companies have been selling fake lottery tickets.

Last year saw a total of 382 billion yuan spent on lottery tickets, up 23.6 percent from 2013. 

Original title by Xinhua: China's lottery sales up 3.4 pct in April