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China’s virtual protectionism

January 23rd, 2008 (Visited 2759 times) Tags:

Pacific Epoch – Update On China’s Internet Shakedown

Government bodies regulating the online game industry have released new regulations regarding foreign online game companies operating in China, reports 163.com. Under the new regulation, the General Administration of Press and Publication will postpone the examination, approval and licensing of foreign company products if the companies are arbitrated or sued by Chinese online game companies. The GAPP will not continue consideration of the products until after the complaints have been resolved, according to the report.

The translation: any Chinese game company can stop a foreign company from launching in China by filing an arbitration request, which freezes the mandatory approval process.

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8 Responses to “China’s virtual protectionism”

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Tavis S said on January 23rd, 2008 at 2:02 pm:
what is this in response to Raph, obviously they are fearing something?
Morgan Ramsay said on January 23rd, 2008 at 3:56 pm:
There are similar rules in New York City that have irked Wal-Mart for years.
Wolfgang Wozniak said on January 23rd, 2008 at 3:59 pm:
So China is protecting their actual finances from leaving shore to go to foreign MMO companies, while protecting local devs.
I can see the logic in that.
csven said on January 23rd, 2008 at 5:42 pm:
Interesting. Different, but seems to be in line with the kinds of protectionism they enforce on other industries.
Wolfgang Wozniak said on January 24th, 2008 at 9:02 pm:
Hey Raph,
Are you attending IMGDC this year?
Amaranthar said on January 25th, 2008 at 6:42 am:
China’s taking huge advantage of free trade, but not playing along from their end of it. It’s only the Western world’s desire for peace through economic growth around the world, and particularly in China for being such a giant, that this is allowed without economic reprisal. (The lessons from Germany, pre-WWII, have not been lost.)
China will change as it grows. It’s a slow process, one that they will set the pace for. This works for all of us. I think that it’ll be the next generation of leadership in China when we start to see a more rapid change in their policies. While it’s true “we’re just going to have to wait”, we as people can still turn up the pressure for change. That serves us well too.
So, with that, I say come on China, open up a little. Lets be more fair on the exchange.
Darniaq said on January 26th, 2008 at 6:01 am:
I thought it already was incredible hard to launch anything in China without directly working with a Chinese-based company anyway?
I don’t think this is anything new personally, more a continuation of their culture and business intertwined for nationalistic interest (whereas we something have a more hands-off approach to multinationals). In the past we’ve seen this with other countries as well, but they’ve all been smaller. I’ve long been curious to see how long China can keep this up, given their size and the sheer diversity of economies within their one country (whether you include Taiwan or not).
Allen Sligar said on January 28th, 2008 at 8:24 pm:
Interesting, I’m wondering if freezing in game money transfers from Chinese based client IP’s would seriously cause the government to rethink regulation of an industry with rampant grey market activity that contributes to the legitimate Chinese economy.

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