Fewer Chinese Divorce, Huawei Executive’s Extradition Case at Final Stage, Global Covid-19 Cases Exceed 200 Million

Here is today’s ranking of the 10 most-read news stories in China, in economics, finance and current affairs, to help give you a sense of what’s trending in the Chinese language sphere.

Chinese social media users have been paying close attention to the Huawei chief financial officer’s final extradition hearings. They are also following the country’s crackdown on fandom culture.

1. China’s crackdown on fandom culture

The Cyberspace Administration of China (external source, in Chinese) said Monday that its work to rectify fandom culture has achieved results, with more than 150,000 pieces of harmful information cleared, more than 4,000 accounts disposed of, and more than 1,300 problematic groups closed. It also stressed the elimination of platform features that persuade fans to work to boost popularity of their idols.

2. Domestic vaccine effective against delta strain, China’s top virus expert says

China’s top respiratory disease specialist (external source, in Chinese) Zhong Nanshan said Saturday that domestic vaccines are effective against the delta variant. He said China needs a vaccination rate of 83.3% to achieve herd immunity and called for more people to get vaccinated.

3. Divorces plunge nearly 40% in first half

China saw 966,000 divorce registrations (external source, in Chinese) nationwide in the first half, a year-on-year drop of 39.4%, according to data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

4. Chinese biotech firm isolates delta strain

Shenzhen-based biotech company BioKangtai (external source, in Chinese) has successfully isolated several strains of the delta variant of the coronavirus, and is ready to produce a vaccine against it, according to Shenzhen Special Zone Daily.

Photo: VCG

5. Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou enters final extradition hearings facing steep odds

Huawei’s chief financial officer faces long odds as her extradition fight enters its final phases, more than two and a half years after Meng Wanzhou’s arrest triggered a diplomatic impasse between China, the U.S. and Canada.

6. Beijing to cancel August exhibitions and events due to Covid-19

Beijing has decided to cancel major exhibitions and events (external source, in Chinese) scheduled for August and urged relevant departments to conduct timely investigations of highly mobile populations, including taxi drivers and couriers.

7. China administers 1.7 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccines

As of Tuesday, China has administered more than 1.7 billion doses (external source, in Chinese) of Covid-19 vaccines, according to the country’s National Health Commission.

8. China suspends issuance of general immigration documents

The State Administration of Immigration (external source, in Chinese) said Wednesday that it will restrict the issuance of entry and exit permits and will not issue ordinary passports and other entry and exit documents for non-essential and non-emergency purposes.

9. Global Covid-19 cases exceed 200 million

As of 3:21 a.m. Thursday, the cumulative number of Covid-19 cases (external source, in Chinese) in the world surpassed 200 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

10. Singapore prime minster calls on China and the U.S. to ease tensions

Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (external source, in Chinese) on Tuesday warned the U.S. not to aggressively challenge China, saying Washington’s increasingly assertive views could be “very dangerous,” and urged the countries to deescalate their tensions

Translated by intern reporter Chen Bingyi.

Caixin has not independently verified the veracity or accuracy of all of the headlines or stories.

The daily ranking of most-read news stories among Chinese people, about China and global affairs, is jointly provided to you by Caixin Insight and HANA Data, an artificial intelligence technology team.

The key indicators calculated on the list are based on mass data sourced from China’s mainstream social media platforms and online news websites. Click here for a detailed introduction of our methodology.