China has set up an assessment committee to make sure online games meet a certain code of ethics, in a bid to provide the public with healthy entertainment products and protect adolescents from the negative impact of online gaming, said the Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Friday.

Comprised of online gaming experts and researchers from the government departments, industry institutions and media outlets, the Beijing-based committee will be in charge of evaluating online game contents that may arouse social concerns and those that already stirred controversies.

The committee will provide online gaming regulators with references in policy-making and direct gaming companies to take social responsibilities and adhere to social ethics.

Based on a recent assessment of 20 games conducted by the committee, regulators asked online gaming producers and operators to make adjustments to 11 games and adjust the controversial contents in them. Nine games were denied approval.

China is witnessing massive growth in its online gaming market, which reached 235.5 billion yuan (about 34.3 billion U.S. dollars) last year, according to data from the Cyberspace Administration of China.

The fast-booming industry, however, also aroused social concerns such as the negative impact of inappropriate content and gaming addiction, which was listed as a mental disorder by the World Health Organization this year.

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