(Bloomberg) Tencent Holdings Ltd. shed as much as 11% on Tuesday following criticisms by China’s official news agency that called it the “spiritual opium.”
The Chinese media agency also referred to Tencent as the “electronic drug” of games, which prompted the company to consider banning children below the age of 12 from its platform.
The reports by the Xinhua News Agency also saw Tencent rivals that included NetEase Inc. and XD Inc. plunge.
The criticism added to investor concerns amid continued crackdown on online industries by the Chinese government.
It remains to be seen whether regulators will pounce on Tencent’s gaming operations or other parts including its media and entertainment.
Tencent is now down more than $110 billion or about 17% of its market value since the start of last week following intensified Beijing’s crackdown.
0700: HKG is down -6.11%
