China bans kids from playing online video games during the week

China has barred online gamers under the age of 18 from playing on weekdays and limited their play to just three hours most weeks, marking a significant escalation of restrictions on the country's massive gaming industry.

Starting this week, minors will be allowed only an hour of play time between 8 pm and 9 pm on Friday, weekends and public holidays, according to a statement from Chinese media watchdog — the National Press and Publication Administration (NPPA) — that was posted by state news agency Xinhua on Monday. The move represents a huge tightening of earlier limits set by the agency in 2019, which had restricted play to 90 minutes on weekdays and three hours on weekends for children. Authorities said that the restrictions were put in place to help prevent young people becoming addicted to video games.