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Changing policies to help Net profits

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As the number of online gamers soars in China, new rules will enable the government to harness the internet's potential, stop young children going to web cafes, and control cyber pornography

Whether deep in Beijing's university district in the late hours of the evening or downtown in the middle of the day, internet cafes share one thing in common.

Upon entering the cafe - or wangba - customers navigate through cross-room shouts of 'Where are you?' and 'Gotcha!' as online gamers shoot, chase, help and destroy one another in games played across the globe.

With estimates of online gamers pegged between 13.8 million and 19 million in a country of 79.5 million 'netizens', online gaming is no fringe activity.

But the government has long been wary of the internet, seeking to control its growth as a source of uncensored information rather than promote the gaming industry as a source of revenue.

Barely a week passes without another report of adolescents addicted to online games committing often bloody crimes.

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