BEIJING -- China's lottery sales rose by 31 percent year-on-year to hit 101.14 billion yuan ($15.66 billion) in the first half of this year, the Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Wednesday.

Sales of welfare lottery tickets jumped by 32 percent year-on-year to reach 58.99 billion yuan during the period, while sales of sports lottery tickets rose by 29.6 percent to hit 42.15 billion yuan, the MOF said in a statement on its website.

The provinces of Shandong, Jiangsu and Guangdong led the growth. Lottery sales in the first half of the year increased by 2.87 billion yuan in Shangdong over the same period last year, while sales in Jiangsu and Guangdong grew by 2.4 billion yuan and 2.12 billion yuan, respectively, the statement said.

According to China's Regulations on Lottery Management, funds generated through lotteries are divided into three parts: prize winnings, lottery management fees and public lottery funds, the latter of which are spent on financing social welfare programs.