Only 3 hours of gaming a week for Chinese kids

The latest rules a blow to the world’s largest mobile gaming arena and behemoths like Tencent & Netease

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 it would continue a campaign to control the expansion of large tech companies.

Gaming platforms from Tencent Holdings to Netease can henceforth only offer online gaming to minors 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.

Chinese gaming stocks listed in the US were under pressure once again after the report. American depositary receipts of Netease plunged as much as 9.3 per cent in premarket trading on Monday, while Bilibili sank 5.8 per cent. Prosus — the largest shareholder of Tencent Holdings — dropped 1.3 per cent in Europe trading.

The escalating restrictions on Tencent’s biggest business are likely to further spook investors that 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 ridehailing ignited a trillion-dollar selloff in past weeks.

Later in the day, Beijing signalled its efforts to rein-in large tech firms will continue. A toplevel panel led by President Xi Jinping said efforts made to prevent the “disorderly expansion of some platform companies” had been a success while also vowing “more transparency and predictability” in setting policies, according to