What’s trending?

Jiang Fan, vice president of Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall e-commerce sites, was nominated by the Hangzhou government as a “high-level” talent on Dec. 23. Online commenters took issue with this, referring to an extramarital affair that saw Jiang receive widespread attention earlier in the year. The hashtag #Jiang-Fan’s-nomination-for-Hangzhou-high-level-talent-suspended# has been viewed over 260 million times.

What’s the story?

Born in Xinjiang, Jiang began working for Alibaba, the Chinese e-commerce giant based in Hangzhou, in 2013. According to the Hangzhou government, key personnel of China’s top 500 companies may be nominated for category C “high-level” talent status, and receive benefits including property purchase priority and cash subsidies upon verification. Jiang’s nomination, posted on the municipal government’s website, drew fury from netizens who decried his moral standing following a well-publicized affair with an internet celebrity reported in April. On Dec. 29, Hangzhou officials said Jiang’s nomination was suspended.

In April, Jiang’s wife accused Zhang Dayi, an online celebrity and Taobao merchant, of having an affair with her husband. Alibaba Group dropped Jiang from his role as an Alibaba partner and demoted him from senior vice president to vice president, allowing him to continue to work for Taobao and Tmall.

What are people saying online?

Most people on Weibo were glad the Hangzhou government had taken action. “Disgusting! He has no conscience or morals. What is the point of having talent?” read one Weibo comment.

But others said the whole thing was a farce. “I cannot believe the officials did not know what Jiang has done before they nominated him as a talent.” Another popular comment read, “the nomination process was only suspended, not canceled.”

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