The country’s internet regulator is meeting with Chinese tech companies next week to discuss  pausing its months-long campaign. Among the agenda items is a delay to rules limiting video game time for young people. Beijing is also considering pushing some of its biggest tech companies to offer the government one per cent equity stakes and give it a direct role in company decisions. (The Wall Street Journal)

Talking point: China’s six-month campaign has been part of a wider effort to crack down on tech companies’ anti-competitive practices and their use of personal information. The government has already taken one per cent stakes in internet-content companies such as ByteDance, the owner of TikTok, and Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. The new plan is likely to be expanded to other tech platforms such as Tencent, the country’s most valuable company, and Meituan, one of China’s biggest meal-ordering platforms. The change comes amid growing signs that China’s severe COVID-19 restrictions are slowing its economy.