With China having banned game consoles in the country way back in 2000, the situation is apparently set for a change in the near future, with some reports revealing that Sony's PlayStation 3 is seemingly on the cards for the Chinese market.

According to a Techinasia report, citing posters on China-based social network Sina Weibo, the PS3 was granted the "China Compulsory Certificate" in July this year; thereby implying that the console will `officially' hit the markets in China. Thus far, the PS3 console, along with other consoles, is available in the so-called `grey market' for video games and systems.

The certificate granted to PS3 is essentially "a compulsory safety mark for many products imported, sold, or used in the Chinese market;" and it will have a validity period till 2016, which incidentally will mark the tenth year of the release of the 2006-launched console in US, Europe, and Japan.

As a result of the certification granted to PS3, gaming aficionados will be able to purchase the console in China, as the gaming system will be able to circumvent the ban which the country has in place for all consoles.

The PS3 will probably evade the ban on the grounds that it is an Internet-capable system which is capable of playing Blu-Ray discs. As such, the console will likely be branded as a `home entertainment device' - these devices are not banned under the Chinese law - instead of a simple gaming console.