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Two Sessions 2021
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President Xi Jinping puts spotlight on video game addiction as he raises concerns about teenagers

  • Chinese President Xi Jinping raised the issue of video game addiction at the ‘two sessions’ political gathering in Beijing, reigniting debate
  • Proposed solutions from legislators range from facial recognition and real-name registration to banning celebrity endorsements

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Boys play Tencent’s Honour of Kings during an event inside a shopping mall in Handan, Hebei province, on August 5, 2018. Gaming addiction was once again a hot topic among Chinese legislators after President Xi Jinping raised the issue at the “two sessions”. Photo: Reuters
Josh Ye

Video game addiction was a hot topic at this year’s meeting of China’s National People’s Congress, which ended on Thursday, with President Xi Jinping joining related talks and listing game addiction as a concern for psychological health, fanning speculation about Beijing further tightening gaming regulations.

Xi initially raised the issue on Saturday at the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the other half of China’s annual “two sessions” event. He discussed gaming addiction among China’s youth with representatives from the country’s health care and education sectors, according to state news agency Xinhua.

Addiction to online games, along with “other dirty and messy things online”, could have a bad influence on Chinese juveniles because they are not psychologically mature, Xi said in remarks published by Xinhua.

Xi’s remarks were echoed by legislators at the two sessions, some of whom have also proposed a range of measures targeted at clamping down on underage gaming. Some suggested requiring online games implement facial recognition, a measure already implemented on some games from the country’s two biggest industry giants, Tencent Holdings and NetEase. Others suggested that a rating system be put in place for games.
Tencent was an early adopter of facial recognition and real-name registration as a way of curbing underage gaming, first implementing it in its hit game Honour of Kings in 2018. Photo: Bloomberg
Tencent was an early adopter of facial recognition and real-name registration as a way of curbing underage gaming, first implementing it in its hit game Honour of Kings in 2018. Photo: Bloomberg

More radical voices at the two sessions called for a ban on celebrity endorsements for online games, limiting the number of ads for games and developing custom smartphones for minors.

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