Console games set to lift off in Chinese market

Now that the 14-year ban on game consoles has been lifted, the floodgates are open for a number of the world's leading game console providers to pour into the Chinese market.

Approval for the production and sales of game consoles has been one of the highest-profile developments in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, which was launched in September last year. The two giants in the game console world, Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp, successively announced the release of their most celebrated devices this summer.

Together with A-share listed Oriental Pearl Group based in Shanghai, Sony announced in late May that they will set up two joint ventures in the FTZ for the production, sale, research and development of the hardware and software for Sony's best-seller PlayStation consoles.