Beijing, Oct 7 (IANS) A Chinese in the country’s Henan province has won a whopping 258-million yuan ($38.5 million) lottery jackpot.
The winner paid 100 yuan for 50 seven-number rows for the ‘Double Color Ball’ game at a booth in Wenming Road in Zhumadian, Xinhua reported Thursday.
Officials have assured privacy of the winner who is yet to collect the prize. The draw for the welfare lottery was made Tuesday night.
The jackpot is one million yuan less than China’s second largest lottery prize drawn in Shanghai in August. The biggest one was 359 million yuan, drawn in October 2009, also in Henan.
Under Chinese taxation laws, the winner will have to pay about 51 million yuan in tax. However, a charitable donation could reduce that amount.
China Welfare Lottery Centre, under the Ministry of Civil Affairs, started the ‘Double Color Ball’ game in 2003. It is drawn every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Following several large jackpots, sales of tickets have increased.
Chen Erjuan, a lottery seller at a booth in Beijing’s Chaoyang district, said she has witnessed more people playing since Spring Festival in February.
