NEW CHINESE LAW bans playing online games for more than 1.5 hours a day or after 10pm

RECENT REPORTS have revealed the high addiction Chinese youth have to gaming. The new regulation, launched by Beijing this week, comes as a bid to curb this addiction.

According to reports, more than 14 per cent of the country’s minors are found to be obsessed with the internet.

Young internet addicts can spend up to 17 hours online and even wear nappies so they do not have to take toilet breaks with an increasing number of young people choosing to ignore their studies, social lives and family to surf the web or play online games.

Recent study reveals that nearly 70 per cent of children in the country have their own smartphones and nearly half of the children aged between seven and nine are given access to the Internet.

The ban is also set to prevent people from overspending. Serious fascination with games has seen some families’ savings drained in a question of minutes. In February, one 11-year-old boy drained his grandfather’s retirement funds by using the man’s phone to tip live-streaming hostesses. Anther similar case reported was that of a young girl, also 11, who spent her parents’ £12,000 life savings after using her mother’s old phone to tip her favourite vloggers.

According to the regulation released on Tuesday, users younger than 16 will not be able to play games for more than an hour and a half a day on weekdays; or three hours a day at weekend or during official holidays.

Gaming between 10pm and 8am is strictly off limits for youngsters.

All online gamers must register their ID details with service providers before being allowed to play.

Cash limits have been set too. A monthly top up of £22 for users between eight and 16 (online entertainment firms must not allow users under the age of eight to play games that require cash payment) and Adults will be limited to £44.75 a month on the same game.

For those serious cases, the gaming fanatics are sent to military-style ‘digital detox’ boot camps to rid them of their dependency.