The 10 Domestic Stories Chinese Readers Can’t Stop Following — May 24

Here’s today’s ranking of the 10 most-read domestic stories in China:

1. China mourns the death of beloved plant scientist Yuan Longping

Yuan Longping, a beloved plant scientist whose major breakthroughs in developing high-yield hybrid strains of rice were critical to famine and poverty alleviation efforts across much of Asia and Africa, died on Saturday in Changsha at age 90.

2. Deadly hit-and-run in Dalian undertaken by perpetrator as “revenge on society”

Five people were killed on Saturday in the northeastern city of Dalian, when a man drove his car (link in Chinese) at speed into a crowd of pedestrians. The 32-year-old suspect, surnamed Liu, has been detained. He was reportedly upset because of a failed investment and wanted to “take revenge on society.”

3. Twenty-one runners killed during mountain race in China’s northwestern province of Gansu

Twenty-one people were killed after extreme weather including hail, freezing rain and high winds hit runners participating in a 100-kilometer cross-country mountain race in China, local officials have said.

4. Three Chinese company employees have been found to have tampered with their positive Covid-19 test results

Before their returning to China, three Chinese company employees stationed in Lagos, Nigeria, have been found that they had falsified their positive Covid-19 test results (external source in Chinese) during their application at local Chinese consulate. They are now prohibited from applying for health codes for two months.

5. Cases of Indian variant found in Guangzhou

According to public health authorities in Guangzhou’s Liwan district, a person has been found to have tested positive (external source in Chinese) for the new mutated strain of Covid-19 thought to have originated in India. Authorities have quarantined the individual and begun thorough contact tracing.

6. Hangzhou banks raise the mortgage interest rates

A number of banks in Hangzhou have raised mortgage interest rates (external source in Chinese). After the adjustment, the rate was 5.4% for first homes, and 5.5% for second homes. The previous rates were 5.2% and 5.38% for first and second homes, respectively. It is expected that other banks will follow suit in the next few days.

7. Government monitors real-time building data for Shenzhen’s shaking SEG Plaza

The Futian District Government in Shenzhen released a report (external source in Chinese) on the real-time monitoring of the SEG Building in the city. According to the report, professional institutions continue to monitor the building’s tilt rate, acceleration and other conditions of the SEG Plaza in real time. The expert group said that as of noon Sunday, the monitoring data was normal and did not exceed the requirements of the corresponding standards.

8. A total of 12 Hong Kong district councilors have been disqualified

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government published a list (external source in Chinese) of 12 names, including activist Lester Shum, detailing their disqualification as district councilors due to invalid nomination papers.

9. Wanda sells most of its remaining stake in AMC Entertainment

Wanda Group has sold (external source, in Chinese) most of its equity in movie theater chain AMC Entertainment, marking a dramatic retreat from Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin’s ambitions in the global film industry.

10. Off-campus education institutions are strictly prohibited from starting businesses at will

At a meeting of the Communist Party’s Central Comprehensively Deepening Reforms Commission emphasized the need to fully standardize (external source in Chinese) the management of off-campus training institutions. They announced it was necessary to clarify the changing standards of training institutions, including prohibiting these institutions from arbitrarily starting up operations.

Read the top 10 global news on the same day.

Translated by intern reporter Harry Nicholls

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.