News Digest

Chinese e-firm will sell first video game consoles in country for 14 years

JD.com Inc, China’s second-biggest e-commerce company by market share, will accept pre-orders for Microsoft Corp’s Xbox One games console in China from July 28 to July 30, the firm said on Monday. The pre-orders will be taken via Tencent Holdings’ mobile social networks Mobile QQ and WeChat, known as Weixin in China, JD.com said in a statement. Tencent holds a 17.6 per cent stake in JD.com. The Xbox One will be the first gaming console to be released in mainland China since the government banned console sales in 2000, citing video games’ effects on mental health.

Launching Xbox One sales in China through JD.com’s Weixin and Mobile QQ entry points underscores the strength of these platforms with young and sophisticated Chinese consumers.

Shuang Du, a JD.com vice president

On Friday, China Telecom, the country’s smallest wireless carrier, said it would sell the Xbox One when released in September. In September last year, Microsoft reached a deal with Chinese Internet TV set-top box maker BesTV New Media Co Ltd to form a joint venture to manufacture the consoles in Shanghai’s Free Trade Zone. Released in November, the Xbox One has trailed in sales to Sony Corp’s PlayStation 4, launched around the same time.