At long last, China is lifting its ban on making and selling video game consoles within its borders. This will now allow companies like Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft to sell their consoles to retailers who can then sell the systems to end consumers, something that they haven't been able to do since 2000 when these restrictions first went into place.

Prior to this move, China restricted the sell of game consoles to a small area called the Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Now, they are free to make and sell consoles throughout the entirety of China.

China represents a potentially huge untapped market for the hardware manufacturers. This is assuming that consumers in these areas prefer to purchase from official retailers now instead of sticking to shady black markets to purchase their consoles. Some estimate that the Chinese gaming market is around $22 billion in 2014. This is largely from the sale of mobile games and consoles.

(via WSJ)