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China Expected to Remove Nationwide Ban on Consoles(Sinocast Computers & Electronics Beat (China) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) SHANGHAI, February 24, SinoCast -- China is expected to remove a nationwide ban on the production and sale of video game consoles in the near future. People in the know disclosed in an interview recently that the municipal government of Shanghai discussed temporary rules on the production and sale of video game consoles in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone on February 19 and provided that everything went on well, a nationwide ban on the production and sale of such consoles was expected to be removed in the near future. Video games were quite popular in the Chinese mainland from the end of the 1980s to the start of the 1990s and in order to stop the young from being addicted to video games, the Chinese government formally imposed a ban on the production and sale of video game consoles and related parts and accessories in June 2000. The China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone was formally established in September 2013 and according to measures on further opening up the service industry, foreign firms registered in the zone are allowed to be engaged in the production and sale of such consoles. At the news, both Chinese firms and foreign firms took move quickly, with a joint venture between Shanghai-listed BesTV New Media Co., Ltd. (SHSE: 600637) and US software giant Microsoft Corp. being the first one to settle down at the zone. Shanghai Oriental Pearl (Group) Co., Ltd. (SHSE: 600832), also a Shanghai-traded firm, is said to set up a joint venture with Japanese electronics giant Sony Corp. soon. Nintendo, a Japanese video game maker, shows rising interest in the Chinese video game market and and once said publicly that any major changes in the market would be opportunities for it and it had been ready for the opportunities. Li Fangting, an IT researcher at CIConsulting, said that it would become a trend for the nation to remove a nationwide ban on the production and sale of video game consoles once Shanghai unveiled the temporary rules and when it would take move mainly depended on the performance of such consoles as well as the impact delivered on the market. As an important part of family entertainment, video game consoles would see the market demand be large. And compared with online games and mobile games, video games brought users stronger experience. Video game consoles were quite luring to consumers that required much in terms of games and would deliver an impact on both the online game and mobile game markets undoubtedly. (USD 1 = CNY 6.09) |