If there's a film crew visiting your office you really should be careful what you're seen doing. Especially if you are in the background of an interview with your boss. And even more so if you work for the Chinese government.

During a news broadcast about the smog-filled skies over Shanghai, Shanghai TV News interviewed a senior meteorologist about the impact of the adverse weather while an assistant could clearly be seen in the background playing Three Kingdoms Killers (Sanguosha), China's favourite online card game, rather than actually doing his job.

Around 25 seconds into the news clip, the leather jacketed employee seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that State news is filming him "goofing off". To make matters worse, it's become quite a viral over the last few days.

Gossip blog Shanghaiist reports that "netizens" have been registering reactions across social networks since its original broadcast on 25 January.

One posted, "Isn't it normal to go to work in order to play Sanguosha?" Another, "I've heard that the Sanguosha game is the favourite computer game of government employees. I'd say this is fairly representative of their normal working-state."

The report comes after another revealed that the Chinese government may be looking to lift its 13-year ban on home games consoles. Maybe this will speed up the proposal.