Tencent shares dived aft authorities media described online gaming arsenic 'spiritual opium'
Shares of Tencent and different large Chinese gaming companies plummeted Tuesday aft a state-run media nonfiction described online games arsenic "spiritual opium".
The disapproval triggered fears among investors that online gaming was the adjacent people for China's communist rulers arsenic they crackdown connected Big Tech and different almighty sectors deemed to beryllium retired of control.
The Economic Information Daily, an limb of the government's Xinhua quality agency, complained astir "widespread" online gaming addiction among children.
"The harmfulness of games has been progressively recognised by society, and they are often referred to arsenic 'spiritual opium' and 'electronic drugs'," it said.
The nonfiction cited views that "no manufacture oregon athletics should make successful a mode that wrecks a generation".
Shares successful Tencent, 1 of China's biggest tech firms that is down "Honor of Kings" and different planetary blockbuster games, dived much than 10 percent successful Hong Kong soon aft the work of the article.
Rivals NetEase and XD Inc besides tumbled, falling much than 11 percent successful Hong Kong.
The fallout dispersed to Japanese gaming stocks, with shares of online crippled institution Nexon sliding much than 9 percent successful Tokyo.
China has stunned investors astir the satellite with a bid of crackdowns connected tech firms, citing national security, information privateness and monopoly concerns, arsenic good arsenic their impacts connected nine successful general.
E-commerce, education, euphony streaming and ride-hailing person been immoderate of the sectors targeted, wiping billions of dollars from the stock values of companies.
Last month, Tencent's ace app WeChat—which is utilized for everything from messaging to measure payment—said it was suspending caller idiosyncratic registrations until aboriginal August for a information upgrade, fuelling concerns implicit its prospects.
© 2021 AFP
Citation: China gaming shares dive aft 'spiritual opium' informing (2021, August 3) retrieved 3 August 2021 from https://techxplore.com/news/2021-08-china-gaming-spiritual-opium.html
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