Historically, the nation of China has been pretty uncomfortable with the idea of foreign influence in their country. Since 2000 they’ve reflected this attitude with a blanket ban on foreign made video game consoles – a ban that was lifted just earlier this year – opening their country to entry by companies like Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony, who have all been eying the market there for a long time.

Microsoft hasn’t hesitated to take advantage of the multi-billion dollar opportunity this presents them. Just this Monday, Microsoft announced that it’s stepping up it’s efforts to bring the Xbox One to China as soon as possible. Microsoft also claimed to be adding more content to the Xbox suitable for Chinese users. The company seems to have gotten a leg up on Sony and Nintendo, having already set up a joint venture with China’s first listed new media content provider BesTV New Media Co to produce consoles for the country.

A January report by Beijing-based market research firm Analysys International showed that total sales in China’s gaming market reached 84.2 billion yuan ($13.6 billion) in 2013, predicting the number will increase to 109.3 billion yuan ($17.96 billion) in 2014. So there’s a lot of potential profit to be made for whichever company manages to corner China’s games market.

What do you all think of this? Do you see the Xbox as doing well in China? What kind of exclusive content do you think they have planned? Let us know in the comments!