Microsoft to sell XBox One in Shanghai FTZ in Sep

Microsoft Corp's XBox One will debut in Shanghai's the pilot free trade zone in September through its local partner BesTV, the first game console officially sold in the Chinese mainland where sales of foreign game consoles have been forbidden for more than a decade.

Microsoft and BesTV said today that they will jointly penetrate into home entertainment system market to meet surging demand for game and video contents in China. They will start selling XBox One through a joint venture in free trade zone.

The global game market revenue reached US$70 billion in 2013, while sales of home game consoles contributed US$25.4 billion, according to Zhang Dazhong, chairman of the joint venture.

In 2000, China issued rules to ban sales of foreign game consoles on the mainland as a policy to protect children. But firms can test new businesses in the free trade zone as authorities have lifted the ban in the area.