Under the proposal, users aged 16-18 would be allowed to use their smartphones for two hours a day, children aged eight-16 would get one hour and children under eight would be allowed just eight minutes.

The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) also said it wanted providers of smart devices to introduce a “minor mode”, which would bar users under the age of 18 from accessing the internet on their mobiles from 10pm-6am.

The proposal would impact companies running some of China’s biggest mobile apps, such as TikTok owner ByteDance, and it has already caused shares in Chinese technology and social media companies to fall. Shares of Alibaba closed more than 3 per cent lower in Hong Kong on Wednesday, while those of Bilibili tumbled by close to 7 per cent in the country.

The measures come as a response to China’s concern regarding the amount of time children spend on their phones, which is said to be causing short-sightedness and internet addiction among...