Chinese online game players will begin to meet new characters other than the invariably blond hero figures by the end of this year.

Thirty large-scale online games based on traditional Chinese legends will be issued to break the foreign monopoly in the online gaming market.

The State Administration of Press and Publication said on Tuesday that it would encourage the making of large-scale online games and flash works based on China's traditional culture.

Under a project called the National Online Game Publishing Project, the administration will join hands with domestic games software developers to produce 100 quality online games within five years.

(CRI June 16, 2004)