Microsoft Corp will launch its Xbox One gaming console in China on Sept. 23 to tap the lucrative entertainment market, a senior executive with the company told Xinhua on Wednesday night.

The Xbox One will be the first game console legally available in China since 2000.

The Chinese version of Xbox One, developed by Microsoft and China's BesTV New Media Co. Ltd., will launch roughly one year after their joint venture was registered in the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, said Xie Enwei, general manger of Xbox China, Microsoft.

"The introduction of the Chinese version of Xbox is more efficient than in any other country," said Xie.

The first batch of the Xbox One products arrived in China at the end of August and are ready for sale, he said.

The console will cost 3,699 yuan (601 US dollars) without the Kinect motion detection system and 4,299 yuan with Kinect, according to an earlier Microsoft announcement.

Shanghai E-home Entertainment Development Company, the joint venture between Microsoft and BesTV, was the first enterprise to be registered in the pioneering free trade zone that was inaugurated on Sept. 29 last year.