China’s Ministry of Finance has rewritten the rules governing its lottery market adjustment fund, creating a clearer route for public money to reach technology, equipment and infrastructure projects across the country’s legal lottery market.

The new framework, published as 财综〔2026〕41号, applies from the preparation of the 2027 budget and will remain in force for five years.

For suppliers, the immediate significance is not an open contract. It is something earlier in the procurement cycle: an official indication of what provincial lottery authorities will be allowed to fund.

The revised 彩票市场调控资金管理办法 — Lottery Market Adjustment Fund Management Measures — explicitly allows funding to support:

The rules exclude the use of the fund for prize promotions.

This distinction matters. China is not liberalising gambling or opening its market to online casino operators. The country’s lawful commercial gambling market remains centred on the state-controlled Welfare Lottery and Sports Lottery systems.

What the policy does create is a formal budget channel through which lottery authorities can finance the infrastructure required to operate and modernise those systems.

Under the new formula, the central fund will be divided using three components:

This gives the central government considerable influence over the types of projects that receive support while still distributing part of the funding across provincial administrations.

Provincial authorities were required to submit their 2027 funding requests by August 14. That was an internal government budget deadline, not a supplier application deadline.

Companies have therefore not missed an open procurement process. The relevant commercial stage comes later, when approved budgets are converted into provincial projects, tenders and contracts.

The strongest supplier-facing language concerns 销售安全保障 — sales security and operational protection.

The measures specifically include systems, facilities and terminals within the permissible funding scope. Depending on how provincial authorities implement their budgets, that could eventually create demand for:

None of these should yet be treated as confirmed tenders. The policy identifies eligible spending categories; it does not disclose individual contracts, procurement values or supplier requirements.

The opportunity is therefore best understood as a forward procurement signal.

China’s lottery infrastructure is not an abstract market.

Provincial lottery organisations regularly purchase terminals, maintenance services, software support and associated technical infrastructure through public procurement.

A recently executed contract in Henan, for example, covers the maintenance and upgrading of approximately 8,299 Welfare Lottery terminals across 18 prefecture-level cities.

That contract is separate from the new fund rules, but it illustrates the type of operational spending that lottery budgets can ultimately generate.

The new national framework now gives suppliers a clearer indication of which categories may receive support as provinces prepare projects for the 2027 cycle.

The next meaningful signals will not necessarily come from another central-government announcement.

They are more likely to appear in provincial budget disclosures, procurement plans and tender notices covering specific systems or equipment.

The markets worth monitoring include provincial finance departments, Welfare Lottery and Sports Lottery centres, and regional public-procurement platforms.

Companies cannot bid on the new policy itself. But those able to identify the projects created underneath it may gain visibility before individual contracts reach the wider market.

For suppliers of lottery infrastructure, that is the real opportunity: the rules reveal where public demand may form before the tenders appear.

EAST ASIA REPORTS
Independent intelligence on East Asia’s gaming markets.China’s New Lottery Fund Rules Point to the Next Wave of Public Procurement

The policy does not open a tender, but it explicitly makes sales systems, terminals, security infrastructure and channel modernisation eligible for funding from the 2027 budget cycle.

China’s Ministry of Finance has rewritten the rules governing its lottery market adjustment fund, creating a clearer route for public money to reach technology, equipment and infrastructure projects across the country’s legal lottery market.

The new framework, published as 财综〔2026〕41号, applies from the preparation of the 2027 budget and will remain in force for five years.

For suppliers, the immediate significance is not an open contract. It is something earlier in the procurement cycle: an official indication of what provincial lottery authorities will be allowed to fund.

The revised 彩票市场调控资金管理办法 — Lottery Market Adjustment Fund Management Measures — explicitly allows funding to support:

The rules exclude the use of the fund for prize promotions.

This distinction matters. China is not liberalising gambling or opening its market to online casino operators. The country’s lawful commercial gambling market remains centred on the state-controlled Welfare Lottery and Sports Lottery systems.

What the policy does create is a formal budget channel through which lottery authorities can finance the infrastructure required to operate and modernise those systems.

Under the new formula, the central fund will be divided using three components:

This gives the central government considerable influence over the types of projects that receive support while still distributing part of the funding across provincial administrations.

Provincial authorities were required to submit their 2027 funding requests by August 14. That was an internal government budget deadline, not a supplier application deadline.

Companies have therefore not missed an open procurement process. The relevant commercial stage comes later, when approved budgets are converted into provincial projects, tenders and contracts.

The strongest supplier-facing language concerns 销售安全保障 — sales security and operational protection.

The measures specifically include systems, facilities and terminals within the permissible funding scope. Depending on how provincial authorities implement their budgets, that could eventually create demand for:

None of these should yet be treated as confirmed tenders. The policy identifies eligible spending categories; it does not disclose individual contracts, procurement values or supplier requirements.

The opportunity is therefore best understood as a forward procurement signal.

China’s lottery infrastructure is not an abstract market.

Provincial lottery organisations regularly purchase terminals, maintenance services, software support and associated technical infrastructure through public procurement.

A recently executed contract in Henan, for example, covers the maintenance and upgrading of approximately 8,299 Welfare Lottery terminals across 18 prefecture-level cities.

That contract is separate from the new fund rules, but it illustrates the type of operational spending that lottery budgets can ultimately generate.

The new national framework now gives suppliers a clearer indication of which categories may receive support as provinces prepare projects for the 2027 cycle.

The next meaningful signals will not necessarily come from another central-government announcement.

They are more likely to appear in provincial budget disclosures, procurement plans and tender notices covering specific systems or equipment.

The markets worth monitoring include provincial finance departments, Welfare Lottery and Sports Lottery centres, and regional public-procurement platforms.

Companies cannot bid on the new policy itself. But those able to identify the projects created underneath it may gain visibility before individual contracts reach the wider market.

For suppliers of lottery infrastructure, that is the real opportunity: the rules reveal where public demand may form before the tenders appear.

EAST ASIA REPORTS
Independent intelligence on East Asia’s gaming markets.

We track how money, players and regulation move across East Asia's gaming markets — including the parts that don't show up in the official figures. If that's your world, reply. The best context usually comes from comparing notes.

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East Asia Reports
Web: eastasiareports.com · Email: [email protected]
Author — Adrià Mas Rodríguez