Tencent Recoups Some Losses After China Soothes Crackdown Fears

In This Article:

(Bloomberg) -- Tencent Holdings Ltd. regained just some of last week’s share losses after Beijing softened its stance on controversial new gaming restrictions, suggesting investors remain wary of another crackdown on the world’s largest mobile arena.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Tencent climbed as much as 4.9% while smaller rival NetEase Inc. jumped more than 14% in their first Hong Kong trading session after the government tried to assuage the market, tracking a Tuesday rebound in their mainland Chinese-traded peers. Bilibili Inc., a streaming service popular with gamers, gained more than 7% on Wednesday.

Their bounce-back represented a fraction of Friday’s $80 billion rout, when regulators slapped sweeping restrictions on in-game spending and playing time. Investors remain on edge following the surprise curbs, which revived fears that Beijing may again target the online content sphere. Tencent remains down about 8% from before the regulations surfaced.

The government has since sought to tone down its approach. Over the weekend, state-backed media carried comments from industry groups that cast the guidelines in a positive light, while the regulator itself approved a record 105 games for domestic publication and promised to review its more controversial mandates. A slew of gaming companies have also announced share buyback plans, to showcase their confidence.

“The normalized approval schedule despite release of updated ‘guideline’ suggests the government remains supportive on healthy development of the online games industry,” Citigroup Inc. analysts including Alicia Yap wrote in a Tuesday note. “It is positive for the sector to see major studios obtaining quality titles.”

Investors hope regulators will roll back at least some of the more divisive rules after taking industry feedback over the next month.

State media outlets over the weekend carried reports outlining the thinking behind the latest regulations, which they said fill a yearslong vacuum in China’s complex game censorship regime. In 2019, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism canceled a previous set of rules after surrendering oversight of the sector to the newly formed National Press and Publication Administration, which was also responsible for issuing commercial licenses for new game releases. That government shakeup was partly why regulators halted licensing approvals in 2018.