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China's biggest-ever lottery prize of almost 360 million yuan ($52.7 million) has finally been claimed, local lottery administrators said yesterday. The winning jackpot had triggered weeks of nationwide speculation over the identity of its winner.

A middle-aged man surnamed An took home the 290 million yuan after-tax jackpot at midday Tuesday, said Li Guangyun, spokesman of the Provincial Welfare Lottery Center Henan province.

Lottery officials announced on Oct 8 that a winning ticket worth almost 360 million yuan was bought in Anyang of Henan. But the unidentified buyer didn't come forward to claim the gigantic Dual-colored Ball jackpot of the China Welfare Lottery until 19 days after the announcement. This raised speculation about the identity of the winner, who has been nicknamed the "most wanted man in China".

"The winner is a local middle-aged businessman surnamed An from Anyang," Li said at a press conference yesterday afternoon.

"An refused to reveal his identity. He was wearing sunglasses and a face mask when he came to collect the jackpot."

An came to the lottery Center of Henan at 11:45 am Tuesday to collect his jackpot, and walked out of the center 25 minutes later, according to Li.

An decided to donate 10 million yuan to Henan Charity Federation immediately and 600,000 yuan to Yan Mengmeng, a Henan girl suffering uremia.

Lottery winners are required to collect their money within two months after paying 20 percent of the amount in taxes. But they don't have to pay tax on the money that they donate. So An will pay 69.9 million yuan in taxes instead of 72 million.

"An said he will maintain his current life style and spend the money responsibly and wisely despite claiming China's biggest-ever jackpot," said Li. "He will invest some of the winning into his business."

According to Li, An has been buying lottery tickets on a regular basis for three years. He bought four tickets worth 1,000 yuan on Oct 8 and the third one was the winning ticket. The jackpot was paid in full to An by cash and cheque on Tuesday, Li said.

The average annual income of China's urban resident is about 30,000 yuan in 2008, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. This means that an average worker would have to work more than 9,600 years to earn the equivalent of An's lottery win.

Though the odds of winning the Welfare Lottery's top prize is about one in 17.7 million, many Chinese buy tickets in the hope of improving their lives, generating huge returns every year.

Questions:

1. Where was the winning ticket purchased?

2. What charity did An donate some of his winnings to?

3. How long would the average worker have to work to earn the equivalent of An’s win?

Answers:

1. Anyang of Henan.

2. Henan Charity Federation.

3. More than 9,600 years.

（英语点津 Helen 编辑）

About the broadcaster:

Nancy Matos is a foreign expert at China Daily Website. Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Nancy is a graduate of the Broadcast Journalism and Media program at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her journalism career in broadcast and print has taken her around the world from New York to Portugal and now Beijing. Nancy is happy to make the move to China and join the China Daily team.