"There was no such national event in China before, with only some small regional contests scattered around the country," said Shen Jiangying, an official with the event organizer, the Internet Society of China, affiliated to the Ministry of Information Industry. "So we hope to offer domestic game fans a venue to show off their skills instead of traveling abroad to attend such contests."

Beginning in April this year, the event has received around 320,000 participants from China's 34 cities and regions competing in the preliminary rounds.

With the conclusion of com-petitions in different cities, the final will be staged on November 22-24 at the Oriental Pearl Broadcasting and Television Tower in Shanghai's Pudong District, with a total of 880,000 yuan (US$106,024) in prizes on offer. The competition will become an annual event from this year, with the venue for the next final being Beijing.

Shen noted that despite the rapid development of computer games in China, the burgeoning industry has long been restricted by prevailing opinion that some violent and erotic contents in the games have a negative impact on teenagers.

Even now, officials in the Ministry of Information Industry are divided on the issue. One group regards the games as completely harmless to teenagers, while the other insists that they should regulate and lead the industry instead of just totally letting it function freely.

To resolve the issue, a proposal on classifying domestic computer games, similar to the way movies are graded, will be submitted to the ministry by the Internet Society after collecting enough information on market response through the competition, said an official who preferred to remain anonymous.

"If approved, games will likely be classified into three grades according to the violence and erotica reflected by them, namely restricted games; half-restricted games for teenagers under parental guidance; and unrestricted games for all teenagers," he added.

The grading method is already in place in countries like the US and South Korea.

"China is obviously a lucrative market for the gaming industry," said Wang Jiang, an official of the Game Center of Shanghai Information Industry Co., a major online game-room provider.

"It will be better for the industry's development if there are some rules and instructions," he added.

Globally, the gaming industry overtook movies last year to become the second-largest entertainment industry in terms of revenue. It has an annual growth of 20-30 percent, next only to music.

(eastday.com October 12, 2002)