- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
- Musk says he is 'all in' on Trump in US election
- Category 5 Hurricane Milton roars towards storm-battered Florida
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ |
China approves 60 new games, lifting hopes tech crackdown is ending
China has approved the release of dozens of new video games, sending the shares of some of its biggest tech firms soaring Wednesday on hopes that a long-running and painful crackdown on the sector is easing.
The announcement follows a report in The Wall Street Journal on Monday that said regulators were wrapping up their investigation into ride-hailing giant Didi and will allow it to register new users.
Officials in China -- the world's biggest gaming market -- rolled out a series of restrictions last year as part of a sweeping government campaign to rein in huge tech firms.
They capped the amount of gaming time for children with the stated aim of fighting addiction and froze approvals for new games for nine months, hammering the bottom lines of many companies including sector titan Tencent.
China's National Press and Publication Administration said Tuesday it had approved 60 new games, following the year's first batch of approvals in April.
Titles from Tencent or rival NetEase were not among the latest approvals, but they did include games from Perfect World and miHoYo -- developer of the international hit "Genshin Impact".
"We are delighted to see established studios such as Perfect World, Shengqu Games, MiHoYo, and Changyou obtained approval titles this time, which we believe could indicate higher possibilities for Tencent's and NetEase's titles to be approved in coming batches," said Citi analysts in a note.
"The approval announcement will also send a positive signal of policy support to the overall China Internet sector."
Chinese tech stocks surged in Hong Kong on the news, building on the positive sentiment among investors and analysts after the report on Didi earlier in the week.
Tencent shares closed 6.5 percent up in Hong Kong while NetEase climbed 5.7 percent.
The gaming news also boosted other major tech stocks -- Hong Kong market heavyweight Alibaba was up 10.1 percent and JD.com piled on more than six percent.
During the clampdown, hundreds of Chinese game makers pledged to scrub "politically harmful" content from their products and enforce curbs on underage players to comply with government demands.
Regulatory changes have hit China's tech firms hard, wiping out nearly $2 trillion of market value since a 2021 peak, according to Bloomberg News.
China's economy -- the world's second-largest -- has been hammered in recent months by a series of major Covid lockdowns, and the government has rolled out a series of measures to resuscitate it.
Official guidance in recent days has called for more "predictable regulation" in tech, suggesting that some segments of government are willing to signal more clearly ahead of policy changes.
-- Bloomberg News contributed to this story --
A.Mahlangu--AMWN