Chinese gaming shares fall as regulators announce new proposals

China’s $45bn (£31.3bn) gaming industry has been dealt a blow by proposals to limit the time and money spent on the sector. New rules including spending limits for online games, a ban on games from rewarding players for logging in every day and a ban on lucky draw features from being offered to minors were announced by regulators last week, sparking panic among investors. Shares in Tencent fell by more than 12% on Friday, losing more than $43bn in market value, while NetEase shares fell by more than 24%. BiliBili,…

Chinese video games are on the rise, but I wish they got more respect

One of the most popular video games in the world today is Chinese. Not that everyone would be aware of the fact, or would care, but that game is Genshin Impact and it was created by Shanghai-based miHoYo. Its style and characters are greatly influenced by anime, and many players might have thought Genshin was Japanese-developed; it is telling that miHoYo is inspired by that country’s culture. Despite being the world’s biggest video games market, China still remains relatively minor as an international cultural force in games. Video games are…

‘The everything app’: why Elon Musk wants X to be a WeChat for the west

Daily life in Chinese cities is nearly impossible to navigate without WeChat, to the extent that being barred from the country’s super-app has been likened to a “digital death”. Commonly described as a smartphone messaging platform, it is more like several apps rolled into one, used for messaging, social media, payments, subscriptions, utility bills, food deliveries, plane and train tickets, ride hailing and much more. It is owned by the Chinese tech giant Tencent. And Elon Musk would like a rebranded Twitter to be just as indispensable in the west.…

China to take ‘golden shares’ in tech firms Alibaba and Tencent

China is to take “golden shares” in two of its biggest tech companies, Alibaba and Tencent, as Beijing extends its influence on the country’s star tech firms and its most powerful and wealthy business people. Beijing’s move marks a shift away from imposing hefty fines and sanctions in its two-year tech crackdown, which was launched after Alibaba founder, Jack Ma, criticised regulators, The crackdown has proved tumultuous for Chinese tech firms, with billions wiped off their value, and moves including blocking the flotation of Ma’s financial services firm, Ant Group,…

Chinese-speaking voters critical of Coalition’s ‘militaristic’ stance on China in lead-up to 2022 election, WeChat study shows

The Coalition’s muscular position toward China is not going down well with Chinese-speaking voters, while Labor is facing criticism over its more generous approach to humanitarian immigration, an analysis of WeChat audience comments reveals. The study of more than 3,000 political news stories and associated comments appearing on the Chinese social media platform, WeChat, has been undertaken by researchers at Monash and Deakin Universities over the past 11 months, including during the election campaign. It provides an insight into the Australian political news reaching Chinese speakers and how they are…