The Shanghai welfare lottery was set up in July 1987. Annual ticket sales have shot up from a few million yuan in the first year to billions. Its total and per capita sales were the highest of all China welfare lotteries for five consecutive years. During the past 17 years, a welfare fund of 1.5 million has been gathered from the total 5 billion yuan proceeds and used to help the elderly, disabled, orphans and poor.
The traditional “Shanghai Fengcai” welfare lottery began sales at strategic points on the welfare network, and the first prizewinning number was announced on TV in 1998. In order to take up the necessary market portion, in October 1999 Shanghai became the first municipality to implement a primary computer hot-line service. In June 2000, this groundbreaking municipality again became the initiator of hot-line lottery ticket sales. The Shanghai Welfare Lottery Center subsequently accepted the commission from the Ministry of Civil Affairs to aid the setting up of Tibet’s welfare lottery system -- the third welfare lottery hot-line to have been established in China, the other two being in Beijing and Shanghai.
In addition to expanding the market, the welfare lottery center cautions the public about buying lottery tickets, making clear that they are not like stocks and shares. The center has thrown the welfare project, built on the proceeds of lottery ticket sales, open to public scrutiny. It also holds forums on the relationship between “real time winning” and “time-delay winning”. Everyone who buys a lottery ticket expects to win, but even if they didn’t, part of money they spend on a ticket goes towards the welfare fund from which they themselves will eventually benefit and which in the meantime supports those in need.
The center has organized representatives of lottery ticket buyers to visit its computer room and lottery administration to ensure operations are open, fair and regulated. A large rotating disc has been erected on Nanjing Road to attract more ticket sales and ensure transparency in lottery administration.
Successful as it is, the “Shanghai Fengcai” welfare lottery still has plenty of room for improvement. Compared to lottery ticket sales in more developed countries – 85 percent in the USA, 64 percent in France, and 70 percent in Japan, Shanghai has barely scratched the surface of its lottery ticket-selling potential.

Shanghai Residents Rush to Buy Welfare Lottery Tickets
Shanghai CHINA - (December 16, 2000) Residents in China's largest industrial and commercial city of Shanghai have become conditioned to buying welfare lottery tickets on their way home -- from January to October of this year a record 1.04 billion yuan (1.25 million US dlrs) worth of welfare lottery ticket were sold.
Shanghai residents now buy one-sixth of the country's welfare lottery tickets, the latest statistics show. So far this year 704 Shanghai residents have been lucky enough to win a prize, among which 19 people have won the top prize (5 million yuan or 600,000 US dlrs each) and 70 have won the first class prize (bellow 5 million yuan each).
According to the lottery administration, Shanghai has collected 150 million yuan (US$18 million) of welfare funds through issuing welfare lottery tickets, 40 percent of which went to a social welfare facilities fund, 30 percent to welfare development fund and the remaining 30 percent to a public benefit fund.

Wincor Nixdorf sells 10,000th Xion/M terminal
October 9, 2001 -- The Shanghai Fengcai Lottery is expanding its network of outlets and equipping its new sales points with Xion/M lottery terminals from Wincor Nixdorf. In addition to the first 1,500 touchscreen terminals delivered and installed last year, 400 keyboard terminals from the Xion/M range of models are now to be installed. This order means Wincor Nixdorf will be able to look back on yet another success story, now that a total of over 10,000 terminals have been sold worldwide since the introduction of Xion/M back in 1999.
The new order is for keyboard terminals which – in contrast to the touchscreen terminals already supplied – can be operated via keyboards. Thanks to the Xion/M's modular design, a keyboard with a VGA display can be used instead of a touchscreen. The basic construction of the Xion/M, however, remains untouched. Customized solutions such as dust filters and thermal sensors can also be found in the keyboard terminal.
Prime contractor for the overall project is Automated Wagering International Inc. (AWI) on whose central system "MasterLink" the Xion/M terminals are operated.
Source: Wincor Nixdorf GmbH & Co. KG, Paderborn, Germany
Contact: Ulrich Nolte, Corporate Communications +49 5251 812 954, ulrich.nolte@wincor-nixdorf.com

Siemens Nixdorf Lottery Solutions awarded major order from China
December 16, 1999
The Shanghai Fengcai Lottery in China has chosen Xion /M as its new lottery terminal. A first batch of 1,500 Xion /M terminals has been ordered and is due to be put into operation in June 2000 in Shanghai. This is Siemens Nixdorf Lottery Solutions' first major order in the Chinese lottery business.
On December 13, 1999 the Shanghai Fengcai Lottery signed an agreement with our cooperation partner Automated Wagering International, Inc. (AWI), which is the general contractor in this project. Siemens Nixdorf is to supply 1,500 Xion /M terminals, which will be operated on the MasterLink™ central system from AWI.
This strategically important order was won in the face of strong competition in co-operation between the Siemens Nixdorf Asia Pacific subsidiary and Lottery Solutions based in Konstanz, Germany. One of the decisive factors was the superior design and technology of the Xion /M compared with rival products. Xion /M, with its modular structure and open PC architecture, is unique in the lottery world. Every component, such as the touchscreen, system unit, scanner and printer, is an independent device which can thus be arranged as desired, even during installation. The open PC architecture of Xion /M gives the Shanghai Fengcai Lottery the independence that other terminals with their proprietary system cannot offer.
Source: Siemens Nixdorf, Retail and Banking Systems GmbH, Lottery Solutions, Konstanz, Germany
Contact: Markus Sauter, +49 7531 87 4023, Markus.Sauter@pdb4.sni.de

Anchor Gaming's AWI Division Awarded China's First On-Line Lottery Systems Contract
LAS VEGAS (Dec.13, 1999) -- Anchor Gaming today announced that its on-line lottery systems division, Automated Wagering International, Inc. (AWI), was awarded a contract by the Shanghai Machinery and Electric Tendering Corporation to provide an on-line lottery system, terminals, and related technical support for the Shanghai Fengcai Lottery, the first on-line lottery program in the People's Republic of China.
The Anchor division was awarded the contract, which is subject to final contract negotiations, after a competitive procurement process in which several companies participated.
AWI will implement its MasterLink™ on-line lottery system and 1,500 PC-based lottery retail terminals for the Lottery's June 15, 2000 targeted opening date. The retail terminals will be provided by Siemens Nixdorf Retail and Banking Systems as a sub-contractor to AWI. In addition, the contract calls for AWI to provide training, computer hardware, and technical support to the Shanghai lottery.
"This is a strategically important win for AWI," said John Beach, President and Chief Operating Officer of AWI. "We look forward to assisting the Shanghai Fengcai Lottery in implementing China's first on-line lottery and subsequently, being a part of the Lottery's growth."
"We appreciate this opportunity to provide our MasterLink(TM) technology to yet another international jurisdiction," said Michael Rumbolz, Chief Executive Officer and President of Anchor Gaming. "This contract award opens up even more potential opportunities for us in Asia, where our affordable, yet advanced technology offers great possibilities to many new and expanding gaming markets."
SOURCE Anchor Gaming.
CONTACT: Michael D. Rumbolz, CEO and President, or Geoffrey A. Sage, CFO, of Anchor Gaming, 702-896-7568.