Chinese gaming stocks regained some ground on Wednesday after Beijing appeared to soften its rhetoric on the sector in the wake of new regulations for the world’s biggest gaming market that triggered a record sell-off last week.

Shares in Tencent had tumbled more than 12 per cent on Friday after regulators rocked markets with a plan to curb how much money and time adults spend while playing online games — a reminder to investors of the risks from unpredictable policies in the world’s second-biggest economy.

But they clawed back some of those losses, rising more than 5 per cent in Hong Kong on Wednesday, in their first trading session after official rhetoric appeared to soften Beijing’s stance. Rival NetEase rose about 10 per cent after closing the previous session down almost a quarter.