THE lottery fraud in Xi'an of Shaanxi Province has affected the sales of lottery tickets in many places around the country.

The State Sports General Administration's ban on "scratch" sports lottery tickets in Shaanxi Province has brought the business in the area to a standstill.

A local ticket buyer said in an interview with CCTV that he had ceased buying lottery tickets after the scandal broke.

"It hurt our hearts," he said. "After being bitten by a snake, someone would be scared for 10 years. These people have ruined the social order and I won't be buying lottery tickets any more."

In Shijiazhuang of North China's Hebei Province, the sales of scratch welfare lottery ticket during the May holiday met a cold reception, according to the China Business Times.

An official with the local Bureau of Civil Affairs said the sales decreased day after day, in a way that exceeded their worst imaginings.

Another upset deputy director of the bureau said he paid attention to the development of Xi'an's scandal because he was worried it would have a bad effect on the sales in Shijiazhuang. "The result has proved my worry was essentially correct," he added.

Many buyers in Shijiazhuang also wondered whether there had been foul play, since more than 40 prize vehicles weren't revealed until the completion of the sales.

Tang Jinting, director of the Bureau of Civil Affairs in the Qiaoxi District, explained that a total of 60 cars had been purchased as prizes, but the precondition was that all 20 million yuan (US$2.42 million) of lottery tickets had to be sold for them to all be released.

But from May 1 to 6, even with the staff working furiously, they had only sold 5 million yuan (US$605,000) worth of tickets.

The sales of the welfare lottery tickets in the four cities of Handan, Langfang, Qinghuangdao and Xingtai elsewhere in the province had also been very poor.

(Star News)