 |
| China reduces children's playtime to 3 hours per week |
China limits the time children spend playing video games to only three hours per week in most cases.
This means an escalation of restrictions and a blow to the world's largest mobile gaming market. Beijing has announced that it will continue its campaign to control the expansion of big tech companies.
Gaming platforms like Tencent can offer online games to minors only on Fridays, weekends, and public holidays from 8pm to 9pm. This is the Xinhua News Agency, citing the opinion of the State Press and Publications Administration.
The new rules represent a significant upgrade from the previous limit of 1.5 hours per day for most days in 2019.
Escalating restrictions on profitable gambling could discourage investors who have cautiously returned to exploratory trading in the past few days after a series of government investigations into areas from e-commerce to data security.
Analysts said: This is the most stringent law. It basically eliminates most of the mine cost, which is very low.
Beijing has said it will continue to work hard to control big tech companies. A high-level group led by President Xi Jinping said efforts to prevent the uncontrolled expansion of some platform companies have been successful. It also calls for greater transparency and predictability in policy making.
Xinhua News Agency said Xi Jinping also said at the meeting that antitrust policies are a prerequisite for improving China's economy.
China reduces children's playtime to 3 hours per week
Tencent and other companies say children are only a small part of their business, especially after the recent restrictions.
China's largest toy company reports that miners' income accounts for less than 3% of total toy sales in China.
Other important points in the new rules are:
- All online games must be linked to the national anti-addiction system, and companies are not allowed to provide spade services to users without registration.
- Regulators are increasingly scrutinizing how game companies restrict game time and in-game purchases.
- Organizers work with parents, schools, and other members of the community to address teens' gambling addiction.
The new rules underscore Beijing's determination to tackle youth gambling addiction and encourage future workers to work more efficiently.
Earlier this month, state media criticized the industry, calling gambling a spiritual opium. Although the description was later omitted, the tone of the article undoubtedly suggests that government intervention is inevitable.