Month: August 2021

Shares in two of China’s biggest online gaming firms have slipped after a state media outlet called them “electronic drugs”.

Tencent and NetEase shares fell more than 10% in early Hong Kong trade before regaining some of those losses.

Investors are increasingly concerned about Beijing cracking down on firms.

In recent months authorities have announced a series of measures to tighten their grip on technology and private education companies.

An article published by the state-run Economic Information Daily said many teenagers had become addicted to online gaming and it was having a negative impact on them. The news outlet is affiliated with the official Xinhua news agency.

The article cited Tencent’s hugely popular game Honor of Kings, saying students were playing it for up to eight hours a day, and asked for more curbs on the industry.

“No industry, no sport, can be allowed to develop in a way that will destroy a generation,” it said before going on to liken online games to “spiritual opium”.

Tencent did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.

The company also saw its shares fall last week after being ordered to end exclusive music licensing deals with record labels around the world.

The move was aimed at tackling the technology giant’s dominance of online music streaming in the country – it currently controls more than 80% of China’s exclusive music streaming rights after an acquisition in 2016.

Tencent is only one of a number of Chinese companies listed in the US, Hong Kong and mainland China to see shares fall sharply this year as Beijing clamps down on the country’s technology and education industries.

Last week saw shares in Chinese online tutoring firms slump after they were stripped of the ability to make a profit from teaching core subjects in China.

The new guidelines also restricted foreign investment in the industry.

The major shift in policy came as authorities try to ease the financial pressures of raising children.

Officials have been worried after China’s latest census showed that the birth rate had fallen to the lowest in seven decades.

It is one of the biggest ever overhauls of the country’s $120bn (£87bn) private tutoring sector.

Big tech firms are altering their return-to-work plans for employees, as Covid-19 cases rise in the US – with some stipulating that staff working in the office must be vaccinated.

Google announced that it would delay a return to the office until 18 October.

The company joined Facebook in saying it would require US workers returning to the office to be vaccinated.

Twitter said it would pause office re-opening, closing offices in San Francisco and New York once again.

The two Twitter offices had been operating at up to 50% capacity for staff who wanted to return.

In a statement, the company wrote that it was “continuing to closely monitor local conditions and make necessary changes that prioritise the health and safety of our Tweeps”.

Twitter said it remained committed to giving employees the option to work from home where possible.

Other tech firms have also put back, or changed, return-to-work plans

Apple has reportedly delayed a planned return to on-site working until October.

Amazon has previously announced a three-day-a-week return to work for “corporate” staff, in a seeming shift of policy.

It comes as the US administration struggles with flagging rates of vaccination.

President Biden recently ordered two million federal employees to show proof of vaccination or be subject to mandatory testing and mask-wearing.

Some tech firms are now taking a similar stance.

In an email to all employees on Wednesday, Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said the firm would extend a global, voluntary, work-from-home policy through to 18 October.

In addition, the email said “anyone coming to work on our campuses will need to be vaccinated”.

The policy will be rolled out in the US, and later expand to other regions.

The Google boss said its implementation of the policy would vary according to local conditions and regulations, and would only apply once vaccines are widely available in an area. More details would be forthcoming about exemptions for medical and other “protected” reasons, he added.

Facebook has also announced that it would “require” US staff returning to offices to be vaccinated.

In a statement, Facebook vice president Lori Goler wrote: “We will have a process for those who cannot be vaccinated for medical or other reasons, and will be evaluating our approach in other regions as the situation evolves.

Ms Goler said the company’s return-to-office plans would “prioritise everyone’s health and safety”.