China introduced new
rules on Monday limiting the amount of time children can play video games. The
rules state that people below the age of 18 can spend a maximum of three hours
per week playing video games. The Chinese government’s move, it said, was
necessary to combat gaming addiction.

The new rules
place the onus of implementation of this three-hour limit on gaming companies.

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China’s National
Press and Publication Administration (NPPA), the authority in charge of
ratifying video game titles, said that the new rules curbing video-game time
were a response to growing concerns that the games affected the physical and
mental health condition of children.

Why is China
worried about gaming addiction?

China is the world’s
biggest video game market and for years the Chinese government has been
concerned about young people spending too much time playing video games and
eventually getting addicted. Chinese authorities have already set up clinics
which combine therapy and military drills for those with so-called ‘gaming disorders’,
reports Reuters.

How bad is
China’s gaming addiction?

According to Chinese
state media, nearly 62.5% of minors in China play video games online ‘often’,
and 13.2% children play games on mobile phones for over two hours a day on
weekdays.

What has China
done to address this so far?

The Chinese
government has primarily held gaming companies responsible for the rise in
video-game addiction. In 2017, Tencent Holdings, one of the biggest gaming
companies in the world, said that it would limit play time for some young users
of its flagship mobile game “Honor of Kings”.

The Chinese
government also suspended video game approvals for nine months. Further, due to
concerns over rising rates of myopia among Chinese youngsters, Beijing said that
it was looking at potential measures to curb gaming addiction.

In 2019, China
passed laws limiting minors to 1.5 hours of online games on weekdays and three
hours on weekends. Playing online games was not allowed between 10 pm and 8 am.
The law also limited the amount minors could spend on virtual gaming in a
month.

How will
China enforce the new restrictions?

The restrictions
imposed this week forbid children from playing online games from Monday through
Thursday, effective from September 1. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays as well
as on public holidays, they are allowed to play for one hour — between 8 and 9
pm.

The government has ordered
gaming companies to ensure that they put real-time verification systems in
place. All online games titles will eventually have to be connected to an
anti-addiction system being set up by NPPA.