Developing stories from China, in English.

Free Eggs, Fake Checkups and Private Livestreams: Inside the Scam Playbook Targeting China's Elderly

39 mins ago

Tianjin's market regulator has published a series of typical cases in which scammers used free eggs and free 'high-tech' health-device trials to reel in elderly customers, then moved them into private livestream rooms where ordinary products were sold as miracle cures. The disclosure is a window into the scripts used to separate China's aging consumers from their savings — and the enforcement tools being tried against them.

Entertainment

Three Seconds of Screen Time: The Cameo Behind C-Drama's 'Chemistry Is Metaphysics' Debate

The period drama Lan Xiang Ru Gu crossed a heat index of 29,000 within four days on Tencent Video, but China's loudest TV argument this week is not about the official leading couple. It is about three seconds of screen time between Liu Xueyi and guest star Zheng He Huizi — proof, fans say, that on-screen chemistry is metaphysics, not marketing.

News & Politics

Suspected Chinese Dive Instructor Filmed Shooting a Protected Turtle in Raja Ampat

A video of a scuba diver shooting a critically endangered hawksbill turtle with a speargun in Indonesia's Raja Ampat islands — reportedly to cook and eat it — has flooded Chinese social media, where the diver is suspected of being a Chinese diving instructor. Chinese divers are leading the condemnation of a killing that broke Indonesian law and the norms of their own sport at once.

Latest

Tech39 mins ago

China Rolls Out AI Security Framework 3.0 as Its Cybersecurity Campaign Targets Everyday AI Risks

News & Politics39 mins ago

GAC and FAW Sign Landmark Restructuring Deal as China's State Carmakers Consolidate

News & Politics39 mins ago

Fuel Cars Hit a Wall in China: Retail Down 40% as BYD Declares They Have No Future

The week's biggest stories from Chinese social media.

News & Politics

People's Daily Names Three Viral Hoaxes in a Warning on Chasing Traffic

The Communist Party's mouthpiece has called out three fabricated viral stories by name — a fake charity gift, a made-up sponsorship dispute, a false accusation against a four-year-old — and warned that chasing traffic without a bottom line will backfire.

News & Politics

State Council Takes Over the Investigation Into the Qingdao Shipyard Fire That Killed 25

Four days after a fire aboard a foreign cargo ship under repair at a Qingdao shipyard killed 25 people, China's State Council has formed a national investigation team led by the Ministry of Emergency Management. The 'upgraded' probe is a signal that the search for responsibility will reach well beyond the workshop floor.

Culture

A Marriage Proposal at a Beijing Concert Meets a Chant of 'Sit Down'

A front-row proposal at Zhao Lei's Bird's Nest concert in Beijing — complete with candy thrown to strangers — met a chant of 'sit down' from the rows behind, and security. The clip has opened a wider argument about etiquette in China's booming live-music market: whose evening is a ticketed show for?