China Unveils New Limits on Online Video Games

中国公布网络视频游戏新限制

A video gaming center in Shanghai in 2021.2021 年，上海的一个视频游戏中心。

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最新消息

Chinese regulators announced new restrictions Friday on online video games, which they said were aimed at tightening the management of the industry and protecting the country’s minors.

中国监管机构周五宣布了对网络视频游戏的新限制，称其目的是加强对该行业的管理并保护中国未成年人。

The proposed rules, which are subject to public comment before being made final, are the latest in several rounds of curbs on the industry over the last few years. The plan would call for users to have spending limits on the game platforms and would prohibit minors from tipping videogame live streamers.

拟议的规则在最终确定之前需要征求公众意见，是过去几年对该行业实施的几轮限制中的最新一项。该计划将要求用户在游戏平台上设置支出限制，并禁止未成年人向视频游戏直播主播小费。

The draft rules, issued by the National Press and Publication Administration, would also try to lessen the incentives for players to keep coming back by banning game companies from offering rewards for daily logins. Additionally, the rules would require computer servers and other equipment used by game companies to be located within China, and would stipulate that the content of games must not contain state secrets or endanger national security.

国家新闻出版总署发布的规则草案还将禁止游戏公司为每日登录提供奖励，试图减少玩家继续回来的动力。此外，该规定还要求游戏公司使用的计算机服务器和其他设备位于中国境内，并规定游戏内容不得包含国家秘密或危害国家安全。

The Context: The campaign started by cracking down on time spent gaming.

背景：该活动首先是限制花在游戏上的时间。

As early as 2019, the Chinese authorities took aim at what they deemed was a problem of online game addiction among minors, setting daily time limits on gamers under 18. Those restrictions have since been tightened. Four months ago, regulators proposed rules that would require a “minor mode” on mobile devices to cap screen time and restrict the content for schoolchildren.

早在 2019 年，中国当局就针对未成年人网络游戏成瘾问题，对 18 岁以下的玩家设定了每日游戏时间限制。此后，这些限制不断收紧。四个月前，监管机构提出了规则，要求移动设备采用“未成年人模式”，以限制学生的屏幕时间和内容。

The government has waged a wider war on the tech industry in the last few years, seeking to rein in e-commerce, financial technology and ride-hailing businesses that it decided had become too powerful. As a result, companies that were once as large as their U.S. counterparts collectively lost trillions of dollars in market value.

过去几年，政府对科技行业发动了更广泛的战争，试图控制其认为已经变得过于强大的电子商务、金融技术和叫车业务。结果，曾经规模与美国同行一样大的公司集体损失了数万亿美元的市值。

Regulators stymied online gaming by delaying for eight months the issuance of licenses publishers need to bring out new games, finally ending the suspension in April 2022.

监管机构将发行商推出新游戏所需的许可证的发放推迟了八个月，从而阻碍了在线游戏，最终于 2022 年 4 月结束了暂停。

Why It Matters: China dominates the industry.

为什么重要：中国在该行业占据主导地位。

China’s online game industry tops the world in both the number of users, 650 million last year, as well as revenue, $45 billion, according to research by Goldman Sachs, an investment bank.

投资银行高盛(Goldman Sachs)的研究显示，去年中国网络游戏行业的用户数量（6.5亿）和收入（450亿美元）均位居全球第一。

The announcement of the proposed rules sent the share prices of Chinese videogame companies tumbling: Tencent fell about 12 percent, and Netease plunged 25 percent.

拟议规则的公布导致中国视频游戏公司股价暴跌：腾讯下跌约12%，网易暴跌25%。

On Weibo, China’s social media platform, one commenter criticized the proposal as counterproductive when the Chinese economy is struggling: “Now you know who is suppressing the Chinese economy, right?”

在中国社交媒体平台微博上，一位评论者批评该提议在中国经济陷入困境时适得其反：“现在你知道是谁在打压中国经济了吧？”

The National Press and Publication Administration will accept public and industry feedback on the rules through Jan. 22. The proposal could then be amended before it takes effect.

国家新闻出版署将在 1 月 22 日之前接受公众和行业对规则的反馈。该提案可能会在生效前进行修改。