Beijing plans after the Lunar New Year holiday next month to begin a nationwide roll-out of a new lottery network, according to the joint-venture company contracted to build the system.

Chinese lottery revenues rose about 22 per cent to more than Rmb100bn ($13.8bn) last year and Citigroup expects the country, which banned gambling after the 1949 revolution, to become the world’s second largest lottery market by 2010 as regulators authorise more types of betting.