It’s quite possible that the Chinese government would like to keep this one on the down low, it’s been revealed that they’ve officially cut off foreign investments in their lucrative online gaming industry. Apparently, the move is to strengthen the governments’ control and oversight of virtual worlds.

The General Administration of Press and Publication (GAPP), China’s video game industry regulator and overseer, released a paper on Saturday stating that the government will now prohibit the investment of foreign funds and interest in domestic online gaming operations. This ban is includes joint ventures, wholly owned enterprises and cooperatives.

If the phrase ‘joint venture’ and China rings a recent bell, you’ll recall that the holdup for millions of Chinese World of Warcraft players was due in part to Chinese regulators that were concerned over publisher Blizzard’s provisions of technical support to NetEase, the Chinese game developer that earlier this year won the lincense to operate the title within China. This new directive seeks to cover this issue but also stating that foreign firms will no longer be allowed to “influence Chinese gaming firms through agreements or technology support.”

With China having one of the world’s fastest growing online gaming markets, with, according to the GAPP, growth estimates projected at anywhere between 30 and 50 percent this year to a whopping 24 – 27 billion yuan ($3.5 – 4 billion), it’s easy to see why investors would want to get involved.

What’s important to keep in mind here is that the timing of this announcement couldn’t be better for the Chinese government. With the GDC: China taking place in Shanghai, China is currently playing host to some of the most important and influential decision makers in the industry. A coincidence that they chose the day prior to the official opening day of the GDC to make the announcement? Highly suspect.

Ultimately, as the decree states, foreign investment has been cut off to games and publishers that operate in the Chinese domestic market.  It’ll be interesting to see how this effects gaming powerhouses such as Shanda, which have a number of partnerships and joint ventures currently in operation.