GAPP regulations are meant to guide rather than restrict the industry, China says The Chinese government’s regulation of online gaming is not intended to limit the industry’s growth, according to an official at the General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP).“Our regulations are intended to be beneficial to the development of the Internet,” said Kou Xiaowei, deputy director of GAPP’s Audiovisual, Electronic and Internet Publishing Department, speaking at the Piper Jaffray China Internet & Tecnology Conference in Beijing. “We want to give the industry more space to develop.”GAPP regulations, such as the “fatigue system,” are meant to guide, rather than restrict, the industry, Kou said. The fatigue system, introduced last year, requires online games to limit the amount of “experience” a user’s character can earn in a game after playing for more than three hours. Online game providers, who charge users based on the amount of time they spend playing a game, have argued that limiting the amount of time users can play will hurt their revenue.However, Kou argued that the rules are necessary. They were developed in response to concerns raised by parents and teachers that children are spending too much time playing Internet games, he said, noting that 13 percent of online gamers in China are under the age of 18.The fatigue system does not apply to adults. SecurityTechnology IndustryCareers