Last year, China's online gaming industry turned over $2.69 billion, a rise of 76.6 percent year-on-year. The revenue is far more than that of the combined revenues generated by films, television and audio-visual products, according to the Government's General Administration of Press and Publication.

Leading gaming operators in China such as Shanda, The9 and Giant all passed the $200 million revenue mark in 2008 and remain optimistic for 2009.wow gold They say the credit crunch has had little impact on their businesses.

The online gaming industry also brought direct business income of $7.03 billion to the telecommunication and IT industries, which have suffered from a sharp drop in advertising revenues.

With immense business opportunities in the market, Chinese online gaming operators are vying with one another for a slice of the lucrative pie. Last month, NetEase won a three-year license to run Activision Blizzard Inc's blockbuster video game World of Warcraft on the Chinese mainland.wow gold The deal was a major blow to the game's former Chinese operator, The9, because it had been the primary driver of the company's revenues.

Analysts estimated that the new deal would generate revenues of more than $140 million annually in China from which Blizzard could receive a royalty of 55 percent.

The online gaming business is now becoming the major profit source for China's leading online portals such as NetEase and Sohu. Last year, NetEase's total revenue reached $440 million, 80 percent of which came from its online gaming business.

While people like Zhou choose to play video games at home, many gamers prefer the Internet cafes where players can socialize and compete with their friends.

A typical Internet cafe in China could have 50 to 200 computers in use at the same time. In some rural areas and smaller cities where home PCs are not as common as they are in cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, Internet cafes may provide the only Internet access for gamers.

China's Internet cafe industry, representing a $20 billion market,wow gold is becoming an important revenue source for Chinese online game operators, who generate approximately 40 percent of their total revenue through it, according to a recent report by market research firm iResearch