China's youth react to gaming curbs with anguish and cunning

It is Zhang Yuchen's last summer break before high school, but events have taken an unwelcome turn - the 14-year-old's game time has been decimated as China's tech firms try to dispel accusations that they are selling "spiritual opium" to the country's youth.

An edict by gaming giant Tencent means players under 12 can no longer make in-game purchases in multiplayer battle smash-hit "Honor of Kings", while under-18s are locked out after two hours during holidays and one hour on school nights. "I wanted to cry," an anguished Zhang said as the news ricocheted across the world's largest gaming market, which soaked up US$20 billion in the first half of this year alone. "Limiting game time over the holiday's means I can't play (Honor of Kings) to my heart's content," he told AFP. The changes - incontestable and imposed far too quickly for the liking of Zhang and his peer group - have come as a censorious state scours the tech scene for signs of any firm growing too big, owning too much data or having too great a hold over China's people. Gaming appears to be the latest target for regulators who have already strafed mega-apps providing ride-hailing.

 personal finance and online learning, as the Communist Party refines the type of capitalism it wants for society.

State media reports have singled out gaming, with one article calling it "spiritual opium" and another advocating an end to tax breaks for the sector'.

Programmer Peng Jianfei said his 12-year-old son was using his account to play "Honor of Kings" while on summer break when an authentication prompt appeared and the boy entered his own ID number, triggering a block.