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☆ The top topic on China's Twitter is an old photo of Xi Jinping posing at the Golden Gate Bridge
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( Matthew Loh | Sinéad Baker | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An old photo of China's Xi Jinping circulated online as he met with Joe Biden in San Francisco. It shows Xi, visibly younger, smiling with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. AdvertisementAn old photo of Chinese leader Xi Jinping posing at the Golden Gate Bridge is now one of the most talked-about things on China's social media. The faded photo shows Xi, visibly younger, smiling with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. AdvertisementPointing to a photo in his phone with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background, President Biden asked President Xi, “Do you know this young man?” “Oh yes,” said President Xi, “this was 38 years ago.”🌞 pic.twitter.com/r65Em6Z7oS — Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) November 16, 2023"Do you know this young man?"

Persons: Xi, Joe Biden, —, Xi Jinping, Hua Chunying, Biden, ”, erving, uring Organizations: Service, Economic Cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry Locations: San Francisco, Asia

☆ China's richest people are leaning hard into quiet luxury, wielding stealth wealth like a weapon and scorning their flashy, label-chasing peers
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-26 | by ( Mary Hanbury | Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

And rich Chinese people are leaning in, ditching "logo hunting" in favor of elegance, experts say. In a similar vein to the US and Europe – the "quiet luxury" aesthetic has emerged as a reaction to the economic climate. Chinese social media's got quiet luxury down to a sciencePeople have posted tutorials and photos on the “laoqian” style on China’s Pinterest-like site, Xiaohongshu. XiaohongshuTo be sure, there's being rich and looking rich, and the latter is where it's at on Chinese social media. WeiboSome influencers have also uploaded video tutorials on the "laoqian" style, to guide people on how best to dress for success.

Persons: that's, Dior, Gucci, Louis, Rich, Tom Wambsgan, Chukrut, you've, Javier Gonzalez Lastra, it's, Xi Jinping's, Milton Pedraza, Pedraza, media's, you'll, Richemont, Louis Vuittons, Thomaï Serdari, Joe, they're Organizations: Service, Bain, Co's, Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Getty, West, Ivy League, China Morning Post, Crazy, Luxury Institute, Twitter, NYU's Stern School of Business Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, America, bucketloads, Shanghai, Europe, Tema, Nanjing, Nikada, Beijing, Weibo

☆ Chinese millennials are freaking out about the 'Curse of 35' — when they become too old for entry-level jobs, and too young and broke to retire
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-02 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

"You're too old to work at 35, but too young to retire at 60," one person wrote, bemoaning the "curse." It refers, specifically, to the typical Chinese employer's preference for hiring workers who haven't reached the sell-by date of their 35th birthday. And it's not just about finding work — Chinese workers being phased out at what was previously viewed as the prime of their careers means their livelihoods could be seriously affected. "At this point in time, youth unemployment is high, so many young workers are willing to work for less. Seah told Insider that increased competition for younger workers "will eventually drive up youth wages, making them relatively more expensive to hire."

Persons: haven't, Hector Retamal, Huang, Tania Lennon, Lennon, I, Kevin Frayer, workhorses, Kelvin Seah, Seah, aren't, National University of Singapore's Seah Organizations: Twitter, Service, Getty, Peterson Institute for International Economics, International Institute for Management Development, China Initiative, Bureau of Statistics, National University of Singapore, National Bureau of Statistics, Employers, National University of Singapore's Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, Weibo, Beijing, AFP, Quy Huy

☆ Check out a ghost town of deserted Chinese mega-villas built for multimillionaires that's now overrun by farmers and left to rot
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-24 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Chinese farmers have moved into a cluster of abandoned villas in China to grow crops and rear cattle. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty ImagesThe half-built villas are now overrun by local farmers, who plow the land and plant crops on the overgrown lawns of abandoned villas. Local farmers now plow the land of the abandoned development. Jade Gao/AFP via Getty ImagesThe insides of the buildings look post-apocalyptic too, like shots straight out of "The Last of Us." Shenyang's ghost villas are just one of many "rotten" real estate projects across China's urban landscapeThe interior of a deserted housing sales building.

Persons: Jade Gao, —, riche, Guo, who's, Li Gan, Gan Organizations: Twitter, Service, AFP, Greenland Group, Getty, Getty Images, Texas, M University, Survey, Research Center, China Household Finance, Chengdu's Southwestern University of Finance, Economics Locations: China, AFP, Weibo, Wall, Silicon, Shenyang, China's, Liaoning province, Greenland, Evergrande, Li

☆ Henry Kissinger is a trending topic right now in China because so many people are surprised he's 100, alive, and going on business trips
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-19 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

People on China's social media are awestruck by Henry Kissinger's stamina at 100. "This is the Kissinger from the history books?" "This is the Kissinger from the history books?" I thought he was dead because people in the history books basically are," wrote another Weibo user. Others marveled at Kissinger's stamina at 100.

Persons: Henry Kissinger's, Li Shangfu, Kissinger, Henry Kissinger, Kissinger's, he's Organizations: Service, Twitter, Weibo Locations: China, Wall, Silicon, Beijing, China's, Weibo

☆ Jeweller Bulgari apologises after Taiwan listing sparks fury in China
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Casey Hall | Thomson Reuters | Casey Has Reported On China'S Consumer Culture Her Base In Shanghai For More Than A Decade | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHANGHAI, July 11 (Reuters) - High-end jeweller Bulgari has apologised after allegedly listing Taiwan as independent from China on an overseas website, sparking a furious response on Chinese social media. The company and its Chinese celebrity ambassadors became trending topics on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform after users spotted the country drop down menu on Bulgari's website. The controversy prompted state media outlet Global Times to post on social media that: "Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory and cannot be listed as a country". It's not the first foreign brand to face the wrath of Chinese social media users aggrieved about a perceived territorial slight. Reporting by Casey Hall Editing by Ed Osmond and Mark PotterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Bulgari, It's, Versace, Casey Hall, Ed Osmond, Mark Potter Organizations: Twitter, Times, Givenchy, Thomson Locations: SHANGHAI, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau

☆ 'Curse of 35': China's state media takes aim at ageist hiring policies
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, July 6 (Reuters) - Chinese state media on Thursday took aim at employers' discriminatory hiring practices, including a trend among companies seeking younger and cheaper workers that has become widely known as the "Curse of 35". Back in March, the newspaper cited two studies that laid bare how workers aged 35 years or over were losing out. With the economy losing momentum, China's survey-based jobless rate stayed at 5.2% in May, but youth employment jumped to a record 20.8%. And with the population aging, many people talk about the 'curse", believing their chances of getting a job or losing one worsen once they cross 35. "If people become unemployed at the age of 35, older people can only go back to college then," said another.

Persons: Ella Cao, Ryan Woo, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: The Workers Daily, Sichuan University, University, Twitter, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, Shanghai, Chengdu, Zhejiang

☆ A desperate property developer in China said it would give a gold bar to anyone who buys a home it builds. Homebuyers say they're still waiting.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( Kwan Wei Kevin Tan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

A Chinese property developer is offering gold bars to buyers in a desperate bid to boost home sales. According to The Guardian and local media outlets, the property developer in question is Huafa Group, which is based in Hangzhou, a city in eastern China. Disgruntled buyers are raging over the gold barsHowever, some buyers have been kept waiting for the promised gold after purchasing a flat. A staff member at Huafa told Insider the Huafa Hui Tianfu development had "nothing to do" with them. Flashy giveaways are commonplace in China's property marketThis is not the first time Chinese property developers have dangled freebies to entice homebuyers.

Persons: —, they've, monthslong, Hui Tianfu, China's, Zhu, Xian, Shao, Xiao Qiang, homebuyers Organizations: Service, Guardian, Weibo, China's Twitter, Huafu Group, Jiemian, Huafa, Qianjiang Evening, Estate Development Corporation, China Index Academy, Bloomberg, Wall Street Locations: Hangzhou, China, Hangzhou Yuejia

☆ Three die, farmland and trees damaged as storms sweep across China
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, June 11 (Reuters) - Three people died in eastern China after strong winds toppled a shipyard crane, authorities said on Sunday, as storms caused damage across the country, including large swaths of farmland. In Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province in eastern China, large trees were felled on Saturday, crushing vehicles and blocking roads, local media reported. The measures include 275 million yuan for prizes to family farms and cooperatives to encourage high yield, CCTV reported. On Friday, heavy rain hit parts of southwest China, including Guangxi, engulfing roads and partially submerging buildings. ($1 = 7.1273 Chinese yuan renminbi)Reporting by Ellen Zhang and Martin Quin Pollard; William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Hailstorms, Ellen Zhang, Martin Quin Pollard, William Mallard Organizations: Twitter, CCTV, Liaoning Meteorological Service Centre, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, Wuhu, Nanjing, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Wafangdian, Henan, Guangxi, rainstorms, Guangdong, Hainan, Hubei, Guangzhou

☆ Elon Musk hailed as 'Brother Ma' during a trip to China, where he's been lavished with a 16-course meal and treated like a king
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-31 | by ( Hasan Chowdhury | Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

During a surprise visit to the country, Musk has been inundated with high praise, Reuters reported. His trip has caused a social-media storm, with people eager to recommend places for him to visit. It was the Tesla and Twitter boss's first trip to China in three years, making his visit a high-profile affair for members of the public. Pictures of what's thought to be the menu for Musk's dinner in China are circulating on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform. Screengrab/WeiboReuters reported the evening included a 16-course meal shared with battery executive Zeng Yuqun at the Man Fu Yan restaurant.

Persons: Elon Musk, Musk, Jack Ma, Ma, Zeng Yuqun, Fu, Xi, Tesla Organizations: Reuters, Morning, Twitter, Weibo Reuters, Fu Yan Locations: China, Beijing, Weibo, Peking, Taiwan, Ukraine

☆ 'Era has passed' as Beijing subway drops mandatory COVID mask rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"It's as if an era has passed," a user said on China's popular social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu, as social media was abuzz with news of the rules being eased. Staff at a Beijing subway station tore down signs reminding people to wear masks, Beijing Daily reported. Some people on social media voiced concerns over the relaxation of mask rules, saying the virus remains a threat. "Let's hope there will not be a second wave of infections," a user on China's Twitter-like social media Weibo site said. Chinese cities have been scrapping mask mandates for several weeks, including Hong Kong, which ended mask requirements on March 1.

☆ Sandstorms, dangerous pollution return to Beijing
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A woman poses for pictures near the Forbidden City, as the city is shrouded in smog amid a sandstorm, in Beijing, China March 10, 2023. The capital Beijing has seen regular air pollution and an unseasonal number of sandstorms over the past few weeks. On Tuesday morning, smog and misty grey clouds could be seen enveloping Beijing and the city's real-time air quality index was at a serious pollution level, according to the website of the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center. The concentration of fine particulates in the air in Beijing is currently 46.2 times the World Health Organization's annual air quality guideline value, according to IQAir, a website that issues air quality data and information. Beijing has regular sandstorms in March and April as it is near the large Gobi desert.

☆ Steve Bannon, who has ties to an indicted Chinese billionaire, says Elon Musk's 'paymasters' are Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( Cheryl Teh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Steve Bannon accused Elon Musk of having "paymasters" in Beijing. This isn't the first time Bannon has accused Musk of having links to the Chinese Communist Party. This isn't the first time Bannon has — without substantiation or evidence — accused Musk of serving the Chinese government. Elon Musk's ties with ChinaMusk has spared no effort to create business ties with China. Steve Bannon has been linked to China, tooMeanwhile, Bannon has long been associated with the indicted Chinese billionaire, Miles Guo Wengui.

☆ China Fudan University team apologises after ChatGPT-style platform crashes hours after launch
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

BEIJING, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A team from China's Fudan University apologised on Tuesday after a ChatGPT-like chatbot platform they developed crashed hours after it launched to the public, due to a sudden surge of traffic. The team's announcement on Monday of the platform they called MOSS instantly went viral on Chinese social media, generating tens of millions of hits on China's Twitter-like Weibo. State media described it as the first Chinese rival to OpenAI's hit ChatGPT platform. While the Fudan University team had on Monday initially described MOSS as a conversational language model like ChatGPT, on Tuesday they played down the comparison, saying they had much to improve. "MOSS is still a very immature model, it is still has a long way to go before reaching ChatGPT.

That abrupt U-turn unleashed COVID on a 1.4 billion population which has been shielded from the virus since it first erupted in China's Wuhan city in 2019. The outbreak is now overwhelming hospitals and crematoriums as it rips through the population, where many elderly are still not fully vaccinated. "This is a very pertinent suggestion, return to the home town...or put the health of the elderly first," wrote one user. The country did not report COVID fatalities data on Tuesday and Wednesday. But concerns about China's outbreak has prompted more than a dozen countries to demand negative COVID test results from people arriving from China.

REUTERS/Tingshu WangBEIJING, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Chinese state media defended on Wednesday the retaliatory measures against South Korea and Japan over their COVID-19 travel curbs as "reasonable", while Chinese tourists decried Seoul's "insulting" treatment on social media. South Korea, Japan, the United States and more than a dozen other countries imposed at the start of the year requirements for pre-departure negative test results from visitors from China. 'INSULTING'Chinese social media anger mainly targeted South Korea, whose border measures are the strictest among the countries that announced new rules. Global Times reserved a separate article for South Korea, saying the measures made Chinese people suspicious that Seoul was putting up a "political show." Annual spending by Chinese tourists abroad reached $250 billion before the pandemic, with South Korea and Japan among the top shopping destinations.

The holiday, known before the pandemic as the world's largest annual migration of people, comes amid an escalating diplomatic spat over COVID curbs that saw Beijing introduce transit curbs for South Korean and Japanese nationals on Wednesday. The virus is spreading unchecked in China after Beijing abruptly began dismantling its previously tight curbs in early December following historic protests. Among them, South Korea and Japan have also limited flights and require tests on arrival, with passengers showing up as positive being sent to quarantine. COUNTING DEATHSSome of the governments that announced curbs on travellers from China cited concerns over Beijing's data transparency. Annual spending by Chinese tourists abroad reached $250 billion before the pandemic, with South Korea and Japan among the top shopping destinations.

☆ China censors COVID-related content online as New Year's Eve prompts reflection by some
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-31 | by ( Eduardo Baptista | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - New Year's Eve in China prompted an outpouring of reflection online, some of it critical, about the strict zero-COVID policy the country adhered to for almost three years. One Weibo hashtag about the video garnered almost 4 million hits before it disappeared from platforms around noon on Saturday. China has massively reduced its reporting of nationwide figures on COVID-19 infections. Cumulative infections in China likely reached 18.6 million in December, UK-based health data firm Airfinity estimated on Thursday. The infections have prompted international concern, particularly regarding the possibility of a new, stronger variant emerging out of China.

☆ Shanghai asks residents to stay in on Christmas as China COVID surges
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHANGHAI, Dec 24 (Reuters) - Shanghai authorities urged residents to stay at home this weekend, seeking a toned-down Christmas in the nation's most populous city as COVID-19 rages nationwide after tough curbs were lifted. Christmas is not traditionally celebrated in China, but it is common for young couples and some families to spend the holiday together. Taiyuan authorities urged residents to call the number only for medical emergencies, saying guidance about COVID "does not fall within the scope of the hotline." A health official in Qingdao said the port city was seeing roughly 500,000 daily infections, media reported on Friday. In Wuhan, the central city where COVID emerged three years ago, media reported on Friday that the local blood repository had just 4,000 units, enough to last two days.

"For whole of Beijing, speedy arrangement of hearses, no queue for cremation," the worker said in a plug for service on the popular short video app Douyin. The fee being charged exceeds all-in-one funeral service packages advertised in the city. China, which uses a narrow definition for classifying COVID fatalities, reported no new COVID deaths for Dec. 20, compared with five the previous day. Authorities clarified on Tuesday that only deaths caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure after contracting COVID will be classified as COVID deaths. The Beijing municipal government and National Health Commission did not immediately respond to requests for comment about the apparent rise in deaths in Beijing.

Reuters could not immediately establish if the deaths were due to COVID. The NHC also reported 1,995 symptomatic infections for Dec. 18, compared with 2,097 a day earlier. A hashtag on the two reported COVID deaths quickly became the top trending topic on China's Twitter-like Weibo platform on Monday morning. But it is not just the elderly that are wary of vaccines in China. While China's medical community in general doesn't doubt the safety of China's vaccines, some say questions remain over their efficacy compared to foreign-made mRNA counterparts.

☆ In COVID U-turn, China's message to the people shifts from war to self-care
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Ryan Woo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Last week, in one fell swoop, China cut away most of the tenets governing its stifling zero-COVID policies, effectively ending its war on the pandemic. "Be the first person responsible for the epidemic", it has said, which is emerging as China's new public health slogan. So far, China's official COVID death toll remains unchanged at 5,235 since the domestic epidemic curbs were removed. The suddenness of the policy shift has not yet been explained to the public, except that Omicron has weakened. But Beijing resident Charlie Zhang, 42, said he was not enthused about the recent dramatic changes in COVID policies, believing it would be hard for the elderly to recover from Omicron.

But the popular traditional Chinese medicine Lianhua Qingwen, used for symptoms like fever and cough, and antigen test kits remained harder to find. Online pharmacies across China have run out of drugs and test kits, prompting the government to crack down on hoarding. Heat was insufficient because of "unstable" coal supplies caused by COVID, state-run Baoding Daily reported, without giving details. "I have no fear" of COVID, said Yang, a farmer who is fully vaccinated and with no underlying diseases. China has reported no deaths since easing the COVID curbs, with fatalities to date around 5,200, versus more than 1 million in the United States.

☆ For Chinese soccer fans, World Cup highlights COVID lockdown blues
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Martin Quin Pollard | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/3] People wearing face masks sit at a bar decorated to celebrate FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Shanghai, China, November 23, 2022. wrote another, mocking testing requirements in China that in some places are now daily amid a resurgence of cases. Comments like these have flooded Chinese social media since the World Cup began on Sunday night, a sign that some Chinese feel they have found a safe space to vent over the country's COVID policies. "My biggest takeaway from watching the world cup: no one is wearing a mask, and no one is afraid of the pandemic!" "The Qatar world cup tells us that the rest of the world has returned to normal," wrote another Weibo user.

"With the zero-COVID policy here to stay, we think the economy will continue to struggle heading into 2023," Zichun Huang, economist at Capital Economics, said in a research note. At this month's twice-a-decade Communist Party Congress, President Xi Jinping reiterated China's commitment to its zero-COVID policy, disappointing investors and countless Chinese frustrated by lockdowns, travel curbs and testing. "We don't expect the zero-COVID policy to be abandoned until 2024, which means virus disruptions will keep in-person services activity subdued," said Huang from Capital Economics. New cases in mainland China hit 2,898 on Sunday, topping 2,000 for a second straight day, a tiny number by global standards. However, in Beijing the Universal Resort theme park reopened on Monday after being shut last week because one visitor had tested positive for coronavirus.

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