BEIJING, July 17 (Xinhuanet) - The Chinese Government is planning  a lottery to help raise funds for the2008 Olympic Games, according  to today's China Daily.

   Preparations have begun for the lottery which is expected to  be launched later this year, said Zhang Weihua, vice-director of  the China Sports Lottery Administration Centre.

   "The lottery will be run from 2001 to 2008 and aims to collect  US$180 million in total," Zhang said.

   The money will be used to build new Olympic gymnasiums and improve  existing facilities, he said.

   Lotteries have been used as a source of public funds for previous  Olympic Games overseas. Besides the lottery, the Games will raise  funds from donations, government support, ticket sales, advertising,  broadcasting, and issuing special stamps.

   The government will use the existing network of sports lottery  outlets to sell tickets for the 2008 Olympic Games Lottery, he said.

   The Sports Lottery Administration Centre is also planning a  trial of a football lottery.

   The trial will be carried out in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin,  Chongqing, Liaoning, Guangdong, Shandong, Sichuan, Zhejiang, Jiangsu,  Fujian and Hubei.

   Zhang predicted the lottery would be launched by mid-August.

   China launched its first sports lottery in 1994.

   Revenues have increased rapidly and have assisted the rapid  development of the sports industry, he said.

   Last year, the country issued 12 billion yuan (US$1.45 billion)  worth of sports lottery tickets compared to 1.2 billion yuan (US$145  million) in 1996.

   Up until 2000, a total of 19.2 billion yuan (US$2.32 billion)  had been raised through sports lotteries, said Zhang.

   About one-third of this figure, totalling 6 billion yuan (US$725  million), has been used to improve the country's sports facilities,  train athletes and hold sports events.

   "Some money was invested to improve the potential Olympic gymnasiums  when Beijing was bidding for the Games," he said.

   The funds helped build 2,600 gymnasiums.

   Over the past two years, a total of 2.2 billion yuan (US$265.7  million) has been returned to lottery winners.

   More than 500 people have received a top prize of 5 million  yuan (US$604, 000).

   Most of the winners used the money for housing, automobiles  and travel.

   This has an added-value of helping boost domestic consumption,  Zhang said.

   "To better utilize the money collected, the centre will reduce  the issuing cost from 20 per cent to 15 per cent as a result of  improved management processes," he said. Enditem