On the management of virtual currency in online games

On June 28, 2009, the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the "notice on strengthening the management of virtual currency in online games", which made it clear that virtual currency is expressed in the form of prepaid recharge card, prepaid amount or points of online games, but does not include game props obtained in game activities; Virtual currency shall not be used to pay for, purchase physical procts or exchange for any procts and services of other enterprises< The following is the full text of the Circular of the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce:
the Circular of the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce on strengthening the management of virtual currency in online games
the cultural departments (bureaus) and commercial departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, the Cultural Bureau and commercial bureau of Xinjiang proction and Construction Corps, Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Cultural market administrative law enforcement corps:
with the rapid development of online games, online game virtual currency is widely used in online game business services. The virtual currency of online games not only promotes the development of online game instry, but also brings new economic and social problems. Mainly reflected in: first, the lack of protection of user rights and interests; Second, market behavior lacks supervision; Third, the online game virtual currency in the use of disputes
in order to standardize the operation order of online game market, according to the spirit of Interim Provisions on Internet culture management, notice on Further Strengthening the management of Internet cafes and online games (Wen Shi Fa [2007] No. 10) and notice on standardizing the operation order of online games and banning the use of online game gambling (Gong Tong Zi [2007] No. 3), etc, With the consent of the people's Bank of China and other departments, the notice on strengthening the management of virtual currency of online games is as follows

1、 (1) the virtual currency of online games mentioned in this Notice refers to the virtual currency issued by online game operators, which is purchased directly or indirectly by game users using legal tender in a certain proportion, and exists outside the game program and stored in the server provided by online game operators in the form of electromagnetic recording, And a virtual exchange tool expressed in specific digital units. Online game virtual currency is used to exchange the online game services provided by the issuing enterprise within a specified scope and within a specified time. It is expressed in the form of prepaid recharge card, prepaid amount or points, but does not include the game props obtained in the game activities
(2) cultural administrative departments should strictly enforce market access and strengthen the management of online game virtual currency issuers and online game virtual currency trading service providers. Those engaged in the business of "online game virtual currency issuing service" and "online game virtual currency trading service" shall be managed in accordance with the "decision of the State Council on Setting Administrative License for administrative examination and approval items that really need to be retained" (Order No. 412 of the State Council) and the "Interim Provisions on the administration of Internet culture". All enterprises providing the above two services must meet the relevant conditions for the establishment of operational Internet cultural units, apply to the provincial cultural administrative department where the enterprises are located, and report to the Ministry of culture for examination and approval after the initial examination by the provincial cultural administrative department“ Online game virtual currency issuing enterprises refer to online game operation enterprises that issue and provide virtual currency service“ "Online game virtual currency transaction service enterprise" refers to the enterprise that provides platform service for online game virtual currency transaction among users. The same enterprise shall not operate the above two businesses at the same time
(3) in addition to submitting relevant materials in accordance with the law, enterprises applying to engage in the business of "online game virtual currency issuance service" must submit the form of virtual currency expression, scope of issuance, unit purchase price, return method at the time of service termination, user purchase method (including cash, bank card, online payment, etc.) in the business development report User rights protection measures, technical security measures, etc< (4) engaging in the business of "online game virtual currency trading service" must comply with the relevant provisions of the competent department of Commerce on e-commerce (platform) services. In addition to the materials submitted in accordance with the law, such enterprises should submit the service (platform) mode, user purchase method (including cash, bank card, online payment and other purchase methods), user rights protection measures, user account binding with real name bank account, technical security measures, etc. in the business development report< (5) enterprises that have engaged in online game virtual currency issuing or trading services shall apply to the cultural administration department for relevant business operations within three months from the date of printing and distributing this circular. Those who fail to apply within the time limit shall be investigated and dealt with by the cultural administrative department in accordance with the Interim Provisions on the administration of Internet culture. A of the approval document from the cultural administration department shall be sent to the Ministry of Commerce and the people's Bank of China< (6) online game operators should issue appropriate amount of online game virtual currency according to their own business conditions and proct operations. Malicious issuance for the purpose of occupying prepaid funds is strictly prohibited. The total amount of virtual currency issued by online game operation enterprises shall be submitted to the provincial cultural administrative department of the place where the enterprise is located on a quarterly basis
(7) except for legal currency purchase, online game operators shall not provide online game virtual currency to users in any other way. When issuing online game virtual currency, online game operators must keep users' recharge records. The storage period of the record shall not be less than 180 days from the date of user recharge< (8) the use of online game virtual currency is limited to the virtual services provided by the issuing enterprise itself, and shall not be used to pay for or purchase physical procts or exchange for any procts or services of other enterprises< (9) online game operators should take necessary measures and complaint handling proceres to protect the legitimate rights and interests of users, and explain them in a prominent position on the website where the enterprise provides services to users
(x) in case of disputes in the use of virtual currency in online games, the user shall present a valid personal identity card consistent with the registered identity information. After verifying the identity of users, online game operators should provide virtual currency recharge and transfer records, and handle them according to the complaint handling proceres. When the legitimate rights and interests of users are infringed, online game operators should actively assist in obtaining evidence and coordinating solutions< (11) if an online game operator plans to terminate the provision of its procts and services, it shall make an announcement 60 days in advance. When the service is terminated, for the virtual currency that the user has purchased but has not used, the online game operator must return it to the user in legal currency or other ways accepted by the user
if the online game service is interrupted continuously for 30 days e to the stop of service access, technical failure and other reasons of the online game operation enterprise, it shall be deemed to be terminated
(12) online game operation enterprises shall not change the unit purchase price of online game virtual currency. When new types of virtual currency are issued, they shall report to the cultural administration department for record according to the materials listed in Article 3 of this circular
(XIII) if online game operators do not support online game virtual currency transactions, they should take technical measures to prohibit the transfer function of online game virtual currency between user accounts
(14) when providing online game virtual currency related transaction services, online game virtual currency transaction service enterprises must require sellers to register with their real names by using valid identity documents, and require them to bind domestic bank accounts consistent with the real name registration information. Online game virtual currency transaction service enterprises must keep relevant transaction records and accounting records among users, and the retention period shall not be less than 180 days from the date of transaction< (15) online game virtual currency trading service enterprises should establish accountability system and technical measures for illegal transactions, strictly screen the authenticity of trading information, and prohibit illegal transactions. Knowing that the virtual currency of online games is illegally obtained or reported and verified, the false transaction information should be deleted and the transaction service should be terminated in time< (16) online game virtual currency trading service enterprises shall not provide trading services for minors
(17) online game virtual currency issuing enterprises and transaction service enterprises should actively take measures to protect personal information security. When relevant departments investigate according to law, they must actively cooperate and provide relevant records
(18) if online game operators provide virtual currency transfer services between users, they should take technical measures to keep the transfer records, and the relevant records should be kept for no less than 180 days< (19) all localities should cooperate with the public security organs to strictly punish online games with gambling color in accordance with the requirements of the notice on regulating the operation order of online games and banning gambling with online games (GTZ [2007] No. 3) issued by the Ministry of public security, the Ministry of culture and other departments, We will severely crack down on the illegal and criminal activities of gambling by using the virtual currency of online games
(20) online game operators are not allowed to allocate game props or virtual currency by drawing lots, betting, random selection and other accidental means on the premise that users directly invest cash or virtual currency
(21) online game virtual currency issuing and trading service enterprises should actively cooperate with the management department and take technical measures to crack down on "number theft", "private service" and "plug-in"
(22) the Ministry of culture shall notify the people's Bank of China of online payment services provided on the "private service" and "plug-in" websites of online games recognized by the Ministry of culture< (23) the cultural administrative departments at or above the provincial level shall investigate and deal with the enterprises that engage in the issuance and trading services of online game virtual currency without permission in accordance with the Interim Provisions on the administration of Internet culture
(24) for the online game virtual currency issuing and trading service enterprises that violate the requirements of this circular, the cultural administrative department and the competent commercial department shall notify them to rectify within a time limit. Those who fail to rectify within the time limit shall be investigated and dealt with by relevant departments according to law
(25) establish a coordination mechanism for the management of virtual currency in online games, and intensify the crackdown on illegal activities such as "number theft", "private service", "plug-in", illegal profits, money laundering, etc. All departments should regularly communicate, coordinate and cooperate with each other, timely report the relevant situation, and do a good job in the management of online game virtual currency within their respective responsibilities
(26) the online game virtual currency issued by the online game operation enterprise shall not coincide with the name of the props in the game. The administrative provisions for props in online games shall be formulated separately by the cultural administrative department of the State Council in conjunction with relevant departments
notice is hereby given<
Ministry of culture
Ministry of Commerce
June 4, 2009

On June 26, 2009, the Ministry of culture and the Ministry of Commerce jointly issued the notice on the management of online game virtual currency transactions, which clearly pointed out that the same enterprise can not operate the issuance and transaction of virtual currency at the same time, and the virtual currency can not pay for the purchase of physical goods, so as to prevent the possible impact of online game virtual currency on the real financial order

In recent years, with the rapid development of online games, the cultural departments (bureaus) and commercial departments (bureaus) of all provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, the cultural bureaus and commercial bureaus of Xinjiang proction and Construction Corps, and the administrative law enforcement corps of cultural markets in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region have been developing rapidly, Online game virtual currency is widely used in online game business services. The virtual currency of online games not only promotes the development of online game instry, but also brings new economic and social problems. Mainly reflected in: first, the lack of protection of user rights and interests; Second, market behavior lacks supervision; Third, the online game virtual currency in the use of disputes

In order to standardize the operation order of online game market, according to the spirit of "Interim Provisions on Internet culture management", "notice on Further Strengthening the management of Internet cafes and online games" (Wen Shi Fa [2007] No. 10) and "notice on standardizing the operation order of online games and banning the use of online game gambling" (Gong Tong Zi [2007] No. 3), etc, With the consent of the people's Bank of China and other departments, the notice on strengthening the management of virtual currency of online games is as follows