China policy risk returns as stock market grinch

NetEase

22/12/2023 09:03

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are his own.)
    By Chan Ka Sing
       HONG KONG, Dec 22 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Shares in
Tencent and Netease plunged after surprise new curbs from
Beijing on video-game spending and rewards. It smacks of
President Xi Jinping’s crackdowns on private tutoring, tech and
other sectors – and gives overseas investors another reason to
be wary jumping back in.
    Full view will be published shortly.
    
    CONTEXT NEWS
    Chinese regulators on Dec. 22 announced a wide range of
rules aimed at curbing spending and rewards that encourage
people to play video games. Online games will now be banned from
giving players rewards if they log in every day, if they spend
on the game for the first time or if they spend several times on
the game consecutively. All are common incentive mechanisms used
by providers.
    Hong Kong-listed shares in Tencent, the world’s biggest
gaming company, closed down 12.4% on Dec. 22, while those of its
closest rival, NetEase, fell 24.6% after the National Press and
Publication Administrations published the new draft rules.
 

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Graphic: China's policymakers send gaming stocks into a spin   
https://tmsnrt.rs/3GU4QK8
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 (Editing by Antony Currie and Katrina Hamlin)
 ((For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can
click on  CHAN/  
KaSing.Chan@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging:
KaSing.Chan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))