China making plans to end ban on video game consoles

China is putting together plans to bring an end to a ban on video game consoles that has lasted for over a decade, the South China Morning Post reports.

In a detailed policy blueprint supported by Premier Li Keqiang, the Chinese government is expected to end the ban on the production and sale of consoles, first introduced in 2000, under the condition that foreign firms such as Sony only produce products in Shanghai's new free trade zone.

The move is part of an attempt to open up the Chinese economy internationally while making the country's currency more widely used. The introduction of the policy comes 13 years after China's Ministry of Culture first cracked down on the production of consoles in an attempt to address potentially unhealthy and violent video games.

An official announcement has yet to be made about the full introduction of the Shanghai free trade zone.