In the mid-1980s，against government failure of social welfare，Ministry of Civil Affairs plucked up the courage to operate the social welfare lottery to transfer wealth voluntarily. With the approval of the Party Central Committee and the State Council，the state officially takes the form of lottery as institutional arrangements regulated by government to pass the moral and cultural tradition of mutual aid on. The essence of lottery is a form of charity in our socialism market economy. In the early days of operating，this mechanism was effective in settling distribution imbalance of social welfare. This report aims at reviewing the development of our lottery，the positioning of lottery in the national income over time，exploring the development road of lottery with Chinese characteristics，promoting development of lottery with high quality to economy and society of our country.