A SHANGHAI couple has each won a 5-million-yuan (US$625,000) lottery prize, the China Daily reported yesterday.

Shanghai’s welfare lottery center said it was the first time a couple had won the two top prizes in the draw, and the second time that two 5-million-yuan awards had gone to the same family this year.

Under China’s regulations, the identities of the winners have not been released.

Lottery center officials said the couple bought two sets of nationwide lottery tickets Sept. 14, with the husband paying 14 yuan and the wife 10 yuan.

An official for the center’s public affairs department said the couple was laid off from their jobs in 2000, and had only worked in a series of part-time positions since. The husband is said to have been a regular lottery player since 2003, which his wife disapproved of.

However, she decided to buy a ticket Sept. 14 with her husband to see who was luckier, said the official.

The couple used the birthdays of family members to select their numbers.

After their win, they told lottery staff that they had been leading a poor life for many years and would make full use of the prizes.

Part of their windfall will be saved for their child’s education and starting a business, they said. Some of the cash will be used to buy a new house, as they currently share an apartment of less than 20 square meters with older relatives.

The couple also donated 10,000 yuan to the city’s fund for disabled people.

At the beginning of this year, a father and son won two 5-million-yuan prizes.

(SD-Agencies)

Last year, lottery ticket sales were 1.235 billion yuan in the country, an increase of more than 23 percent on 2004. Profits go to a range of public projects, such as nursing homes and disabled groups. The government has set the sale of 1.5 billion yuan as this year’s goal.

(SD-Agencies)