Not strange at all. We know that the Chinese government is severely corrupt. The9 paid the proper bribes to the proper people. Those bribes do not carry over to a new company, it has to pay the bribes all over again... plus more, because this game is obviously a cash cow. Thus, NetEase has to collect early to get the money to pay the bribes and extortion.
The Chinese like to pretend that they are the most civilized nation in the world, but behind the scenes they are amongst the most barbaric and corrupt cultures of modern civilization... and to beat the US on those scales takes a LOT of work.