Visitors stitchery astatine a show booth for Chinese exertion steadfast Tencent astatine the China International Fair for Trade successful Services (CIFTIS) successful Beijing connected Sept. 5, 2020. China's biggest gaming institution Tencent Holdings said Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, that it would bounds gaming clip for minors and prohibition children nether 12 from making in-game purchases aft a authorities media nonfiction called games "spiritual opium" connected Monday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Visitors stitchery astatine a show booth for Chinese exertion steadfast Tencent astatine the China International Fair for Trade successful Services (CIFTIS) successful Beijing connected Sept. 5, 2020. China's biggest gaming institution Tencent Holdings said Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, that it would bounds gaming clip for minors and prohibition children nether 12 from making in-game purchases aft a authorities media nonfiction called games "spiritual opium" connected Monday. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

HONG KONG – China’s biggest gaming institution Tencent Holdings said Tuesday it would bounds gaming clip for minors and prohibition children nether 12 from making in-game purchases aft a authorities media nonfiction called games “spiritual opium."

Tencent’s pledge to curb gaming for minors came hours aft the company’s banal plunged arsenic overmuch arsenic 11% pursuing a critique published by the Economic Information Daily, a paper affiliated with China’s authoritative Xinhua News Agency.

The paper nonfiction had named Tencent’s wildly fashionable Honor of Kings crippled arsenic 1 that minors were addicted to, and cited a pupil saying that immoderate played the crippled for 8 hours a day. The online nonfiction was removed hours later.

“‘Spiritual opium’ has grown into an manufacture worthy hundreds of billions,” the paper said, adding that nary manufacture should beryllium allowed to make successful a mode that volition “destroy a generation.”

On Tuesday, Tencent said successful a connection it would further bounds gaming clip for minors, reducing gaming clip to 1 hr a time from an hr and a half, and to 3 hours a time from 2 hours during holidays. Children nether the property of 12 are besides prohibited from spending wrong the game, the institution said.

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Tencent besides called for the manufacture to power the gaming clip for minors and sermon the anticipation of banning students younger than 12 from playing games.

It was not wide if Tencent issued the curbs successful airy of the article. The institution did not instantly comment.

The critique of the gaming manufacture sparked a selloff of stocks successful Chinese gaming companies, including companies similar NetEase, amid fears that the gaming manufacture could beryllium the adjacent to spot a clampdown.

Chinese authorities successful caller months person targeted sectors similar e-commerce and online education, implementing caller regulations to curb anti-competitive behaviour aft years of accelerated maturation successful the exertion sector.

Last month, Chinese authorities banned companies who supply tutoring successful halfway schoolhouse subjects from turning a profit, wiping retired billions from online acquisition companies specified arsenic TAL Education and Gaotu Techedu.

Tencent’s banal terms closed down 6.11% astatine 446 Hong Kong dollars connected Tuesday.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.