The Epoch Times
The Epoch Times
AD
The Epoch Times
Support Us
China Business & Economy

Three Hours a Week: Play Time’s Over for China’s Young Video Gamers

Three Hours a Week: Play Time’s Over for China’s Young Video Gamers
People play online games at an internet cafe in Fuyang, Anhui province, China on Aug. 20, 2018. Reuters/Stringer
Reuters
Reuters
8/30/2021|Updated: 8/30/2021
The Chinese regime has forbidden under-18s from playing video games for more than three hours per week, a stringent social intervention that it said was needed to pull the plug on a growing addiction to what it once described as “spiritual opium.”

The new rules, published on Aug. 30, are part of a major shift by Beijing to strengthen control over its society and key sectors of its economy, including tech, education and property, after years of runaway growth.

Reuters
Reuters
Author
Author’s Selected Articles
Waymo Goes Fully Autonomous in Nashville
Feb 10, 2026
Waymo Goes Fully Autonomous in Nashville
Vonn Says She Needs Multiple Surgeries for Complex Leg Fracture but Has No Regrets
Feb 10, 2026
Vonn Says She Needs Multiple Surgeries for Complex Leg Fracture but Has No Regrets
Portugal Elects Socialist as President by Landslide
Feb 08, 2026
Portugal Elects Socialist as President by Landslide
Iran’s Nobel Winner Narges Mohammadi Faces New Prison Term of More Than 7 Years
Feb 08, 2026
Iran’s Nobel Winner Narges Mohammadi Faces New Prison Term of More Than 7 Years
Related Topics
games
Add to My List
Save
The Epoch Times
Copyright © 2000 - 2026 The Epoch Times Association Inc. All Rights Reserved.