CHINA HIGHLIGHTS

HIGHS AND LOWS

Highs

China’s three internet behemoths, Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent are racing towards the metaverse. Alibaba registered numerous trademarks, including Ali Metaverse. Tencent is taking a slightly different road: investing in companies already on their way to the metaverse. The United States gaming company Epic Games, of which Tencent owns 40%, is building its own metaverse. Baidu on the other hand is looking at smart hardware which users will need to plug in to the metaverse, such as VR headsets.

China’s e-sports industry is expected to grow its market size by over 130% year-on-year and surpass RMB170 billion. Huya, China’s leading esports live-streaming company, released a report stating that due to the increased maturity of the industry and more policies and regulations, the esports ecosystem is only going to continue to grow and improve. JD Fresh, a part of the JD franchise, is ramping up efforts to import fresh produce as Chinese consumers are going all out on overseas fruit and vegetables. JD Fresh is working with four different exporters to bring in Chilean cherries, highly popular amongst Chinese buyers. A staggering 92% of all Chilean cherries land in China.

Lows

China Evergrande Group has been branded the “world’s most indebted company” by the BBC. The property development company is at risk of becoming the country’s biggest defaulter after they missed a debt payment deadline of USD82.5 million on November 6. Evergrande was founded in Guangzhou in 1996 and has more than 1,300 real estate projects across China. A special government team has been drafted in to rescue the property tycoon. Weibo made a move to the Hong Kong stock market and lost more than 7% on its first day of trading in early December. The move to the Hong Kong market wasn’t the social media giant’s only blow of 2021; in the last six months of the year they lost almost a third of their value on the company’s US-listed shares. Alibaba and JD.com are other notable companies listed on both the US and Hong Kong stock market. Companies are said to be making moves between the two because of increased tension between China and the United States.

On December 14, 2021, popular restaurant chain Element Fresh announced that they would be closing stores across China and filing for bankruptcy. The company stated that they have had financial difficulties since the pandemic began in January 2020. There are 31 restaurants in China across eight cities, but there have already been closures in both Shanghai and Beijing. An exact date for store closures hasn’t been released but some restaurants have stated that they will be open over the Spring Festival.

New COVID-19 Drug Authorized for Use in China

Chinese authorities have approved a new COVID-19 drug, the first antibody therapy for the novel coronavirus to be sanctioned in the country.

The antibody therapy is administered by intravenous injection and designed to treat anyone aged 12 years old and above, showing mild or moderate COVID-19 symptoms.

The drug, known as BRII-196/ BRII-198, was domestically produced by pharmaceutical company Brii Biosciences, in partnership with scientists in Beijing and Shenzhen.

Live-Streamer Fined Over RMB1.3 billion

In less positive live-steaming news, tax authorities in Zhejiang province ordered popular live-streaming host Huang Wei to pay RMB1.34 billion (USD210 million) in fines. The star, commonly known as Weiya, also had her Tabao live-streaming account closed.

Authorities claimed that Weiya was using several business consulting entities to hide the amount of personal commission she received from live-streaming.

Weiya will avoid criminal charges should she abide by the tax authority’s ruling and pay the overdue tax on time. In an official statement by the live-streamer, she said that she would fully comply and disclose her full income structure.

Over 180,000 Apply For Hong Kong Health Code

More than 180,000 people had applied for the new Hong Kong Health Code last month. The health code has been designed to allow for quarantine-free travel between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong and Macau. The Hong Kong Health Code’s data is shared to China’s central government by Hong Kong and Macao and vice versa. This means that if you’re a Guangdong resident and your Yuekang Health Code turns from green to red, so will your Hong Kong Health Code.

Travel between the mainland, Hong Kong and Macau will be restricted to Guangdong province.

Weibo Bans These ‘Insulting’ Words

In an official statement on December 1, Weibo released a list of words and statements that would no longer be permitted for use on the platform. Words such as erhuo ( 二货 , idiot), SB (a stupid c**t), niangpao ( 娘炮 , sissy), and biesan ( 瘪三 , a broke and unemployed person) were all classified as vulgar and insulting, and will be censored on the Twitter-like platform.

Some netizens were quick to criticize the statement, highlighting that only recently the term ‘sissy boy’ was being used by state media to describe feminine men.

27 Million Chinese Watch Westlife Concert

WeChat was temporarily transported back to the early 2000s as over 27 million Chinese people tuned in to Irish boyband Westlife’s London concert, which was live-streamed on WeChat.

The band played popular songs such as ‘Uptown Girl’ and ‘My Love’. They even performed a Chinese song to cater to the audience.

For many Chinese people, Westlife were their first experience of Western pop music when the group broke in to the Chinese market in the early 2000s.

Prevention of Sexual Abuse in School

The Chinese Ministry of Education announced new guidelines for the Health and Life Education curriculum for grades 1 to 12. One major talking point is educating children in primary and secondary levels about sexual abuse prevention.

Students will be learning “to protect oneself” and “the basic knowledge and skills of health care and the ability to prevent sexual harassment and abuse.”

Furthermore, Chinese students will learn how to prevent the spread of infectious disease, including understanding the transmission and prevention of AIDS. High school students will receive lessons in “sex, love and marriage.”