Report: China lifts ban on video game consoles

China's State Council has suspended the ban on the sale and production of foreign games consoles in the country, Reuters reports.

According to Reuters, the country's state council released a statement outlining that "foreign-invested enterprises" with government approval are now permitted to manufacture consoles within Shanghai's free trade zone and distribute them in China. Late last year, the Chinese Government created the "experimental" Shanghai Free Economic Zone that will allow foreign-funded companies to sell gaming hardware in the country.

China began to reconsider its 13-year long ban on the sale of game consoles a year ago, which was put in place due to concerns of potential harm to the physical and mental development of the country's youth. The Chinese government then detailed a policy blueprint in July to end the ban on the production and sale of consoles.

It was revealed in September that Microsoft formed a joint venture with Shanghai media giant BesTV to launch a hardware device into China, offering streaming entertainment services into the country. Unconfirmed reports stated at the time that the initiative would launch an Xbox technology-based console called Bestpad.

China's video game industry brought in $13 billion in revenue in 2013, a 34 percent increase over 2012's $9.7 billion figure. Of that figure, console games unsurprisingly only generated roughly $15 million in total revenue.