Back in July, a Chinese newspaper reported on a proposed policy that might lift the long-time Chinese ban of online game consoles. The plan reportedly had the backing of the Chinese Premier.

This week, China officially announced that it has ended the console ban – but with a couple of caveats. The Wall Street Journal today reported that game consoles can now be sold inside the free-trade zone in Shanghai. Each console manufacturer that desires to sell its hardware in Shanghai should seek approval from the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

The Shanghai free trade zone itself is new, and can grow over the subsequent three years. Consistent with the Journal report, the Chinese government gave no specific date for when consoles can be available within the zone.

China’s console ban went into effect 13 years ago. On the time, the ban was promoted as a result of political and violent content seen in some games. There isn’t any word on whether the Ministry of Culture might demand censorship in some games, as other countries corresponding to Australia have done.

Though consoles are banned within the country, the prohibition has made the country’s black market console sales one of the most highest on the earth. More relaxed rules on official console sales inside the country could deal a blow to this black market and will help switch more Chinese gamers (who play games totally on PC) to console gaming.