The People’s Republic of China has finally lifted their 14 year ban on foreign video game consoles, but only at their behest, as we mentioned in our previous report.

The relaxing of their local regulations is labeled as temporary, although there has been no deadline made public at the time of writing this article. This suspension permits “foreign-invested enterprises” to manufacture game consoles within Shanghai’s free trade zone and sell them within the domestic Chinese market, after they’ve been inspected by the various cultural departments of course.

Naturally this opens the door for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo to finally sell their games consoles in the industry giant, but it would also require them to relocate their core manufacturing services to the Shanghai free trade zone, in order to meet the strict regulations of the Chinese government. This could also mean cheaper costs down the line as it could end their reliance on third party manufacturers like Foxconn

Image: Wei Gensheng