China cracks down on online game play time

The AP reports that a new law restricting game time goes into effect tomorrow in China:
China is banning children from playing online games for more than three hours a week, the harshest restriction so far on the game industry as Chinese regulators continue cracking down on the technology sector.

Minors in China can only play games between 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Fridays, weekends and on public holidays starting Sept. 1, according to a notice from the National Press and Publication Administration.

That limits gaming to three hours a week for most weeks of the year, down from a previous restriction set in 2019 that allowed minors play games for an hour and a half per day and three hours on public holidays.

The gaming restrictions are part of an ongoing crackdown on technology companies, amid concerns that technology firms — many of which provide ubiquitous messaging, payments and gaming services — may have an outsized influence on society.

The company [Tencent] issued the curbs hours after a state-affiliated newspaper criticized the gaming industry and called games “spiritual opium.”

Calling games spiritual opium is quite interesting. That line of reasoning feels awfully close to calling the Bible spiritual opium. Maybe the Chinese government is on to something here. 


Happy Chinese children reacting to the 
Great Leader's new law

My minions tell me that this new law arose because China is desperate to avoid the middle income trap.

What's the middle income trap?

The middle income trap is an economic development situation in which a country that attains a certain income (due to given advantages) gets stuck at that level. The term was introduced by the World Bank in 2006 and is defined by them as the 'middle-income range' countries with gross national product per capita that has remained between $1,000 to $12,000 at constant (2011) prices. According to the concept, a country in the middle income trap has lost its competitive edge in the export of manufactured goods due to rising wages.


By Germaine, the great water sprite of our times


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