China slashes kids' gaming time to just three hours a week

[BEIJING]

CHINA will forbid minors from gaming more than three hours most weeks, a dramatic escalation of restrictions which dealt a blow to the world's largest mobile gaming market, as Beijing signalled that it would continue a campaign to control the expansion of large tech companies.

Gaming platforms from Tencent Holdings Ltd to NetEase Inc can henceforth offer online gaming to minors only from 8 pm to 9 pm on Fridays, weekends and public holidays, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing a notice by the National Press and Publication Administration.

The new rules, which limit teen playing time to three hours most weeks of the year, is a major step-up from a previous restriction set in 2019 of 1.5 hours per day, most days. The escalating restrictions on Tencent's biggest business are likely to spook investors, who had cautiously returned to Chinese stocks in recent days, exploring bargains after a raft of regulatory probes into areas from online commerce to data security and ride-hailing ignited a trillion-dollar selloff in past weeks.

Later in the day, Beijing signalled that its efforts to rein in large tech companies will continue. A top-level committee led by President Xi Jinping said that efforts made to prevent the "disorderly expansion of some platform companies" had been a success, and also vowed "more transparency and predictability" in setting policies, Xinhua said.

Mr Xi also told the meeting that anti-monopoly policies were a requirement for improving China's economy, Xinhua reported.

Netease slid as much as 9.3 per cent in pre-market trading in New York, while Prosus NV, Tencent's biggest shareholder, fell in Europe.

"Three hours per week is too tight. Such a policy will have negative impact on Tencent too," Steven Leung, an executive director at UOB Kay Hian (Hong Kong) Ltd said. "I thought regulatory measures would take a break gradually but it's not stopping at all. It will hurt the nascent tech rebound for sure."

Tencent and other companies have said minors account for only a fraction of their businesses, especially after recent restrictions. The country's largest games company has said the revenue from minors yields less than 3 per cent of its gross gaming receipts in China.

Other key points in the new rules include: All online games should be linked to a state anti-addiction system, and companies cannot provide services to users without real-name registrations.

Regulators will ratchet up checks over how gaming firms carry out restrictions on playing time and in-game purchases, for example.

Regulators will work with parents, schools and other members of the society to combat youth gaming addiction The new rules underscore the extent to which Beijing is intent on curbing gaming addiction among youths and pushing its future workforce toward more productive pursuits.

Earlier this month, state media published forceful critiques of the industry and at one point labelled games "spiritual opium". That description was later removed, but share prices plunged out of concern for further restrictions.

Tencent, which in 2018 and 2019 grappled with a widespread gaming industry crackdown then focused on myopia among children, is also struggling with a plethora of tightening regulations in areas such as social media, online finance and commerce.

It has proactively reduced the number of hours that minors can play its games, but the company has not been nearly as restrictive as the government's new rules. It limited minors to just an hour during weekdays and no more than two hours during vacations and holidays.

"Since 2017, Tencent has explored and applied various new technologies and functions for the protection of minors," Tencent said in a messaged statement. "That will continue, as Tencent strictly abides by and actively implements the latest requirements from the Chinese authorities."

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