China's Ministry of Finance (MOF) issued a circular Monday calling for enhanced efforts to clamp down on illegal sales of lottery tickets, to protect the public's interests and guard against financial disorder.

Illegal sales of lottery tickets include misrepresenting them in the guise of prize-winning sales and individuals operating without permission, according to the circular.

Henceforth, all forms of lottery tickets apart from welfare and sport lottery tickets that have been approved by the State Council, China's cabinet, are banned from the domestic market. The MOF requires that institutions selling lottery tickets strictly follow the quota concerning the issuing of tickets, monitor sales channels, and see to that the whole process of lottery ticket sales is audited by authorized firms.