The Chinese government is set to introduce guidelines that will limit the use of mobile devices by minors under the age of 18 to no more than two hours per day and make them inaccessible from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. in the future.

According to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency, China’s National Internet Information Publication Office released a draft of the “Mobile Internet Minors Guidelines” today (Feb. 2).

The guidelines stipulate that mobile devices should have the ability to switch to “minor mode,” while also providing standards for differentiating minors by age and limiting the amount of time they can use the internet.

The proposed usage time by the National Internet Information Center is 40 minutes or less for those under the age of 8, 1 hour or less for those aged 8 to 15, and 2 hours or less for those aged 16 to 17, with parents given the right to exempt them from the restrictions.

The guidelines go on to say that if an underage user uses a mobile device for more than 30 minutes, a break notification should be issued, and a “service unavailable” notice should be displayed from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. each day.

However, applications and device functions for minors’ personal safety, such as emergency calls, are not subject to the time limit, and education-related applications such as online classes are excluded from the time limit.

The National Internet Information Office, which released the draft, has decided to collect opinions from the public until September 2.

The move is expected to have a significant impact on the industry by stipulating obligations for smartphone makers, internet platform companies, app store providers, and others with a presence in China.

Following the release of the guidelines, Chinese tech stocks fell sharply on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and elsewhere.

Tencent fell more than 3 percent, 먹튀검증토토사이트 Weibo more than 5 percent, and short video platform KwaiSou more than 4 percent.