China will invest 1 to 2 billion yuan (about 120.5 to 241 million US dollars) in a program to develop some 100 high quality Chinese-developed online games from 2004 to 2008, according to sources with the Press and Publication Administration of China.

The investment is an attempt to combat the dominance of imported online games, for Chinese games account for only 10 percent of the online computer games in the country.

Yu Yongzhan, deputy director of the administration, said that nearly 50 businesses are involved in the program, and projects listed in the program will be given preferential policies in terms of taxation and financing.

China's online game publications took in 1.32 billion yuan (159 million dollars) in 2003, up nearly 50 percent from a year earlier, as online games emerged as a kind of mainstream gaming product, according to Yu.

Chen Tianqiao, president with the Shanda Interactive Entertainment Ltd., China's largest online game company, said that "holding the intellectual property rights of relevant game software is the core for vying for the future gaming market."

By the end of this year, 30 online games are expected to hit the market. They include several games adapted from classical Chinese literary works, such as Pilgrimage to the West, Canonization of the Gods, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms.