The 10 Domestic Stories Chinese Readers Can't Stop Following – May 25

Here’s today’s ranking of the top 10 most-read domestic stories in China, in economics, finance and current affairs. We want to help you get a sense of what’s trending in the Chinese language sphere.

The top two are same as yesterday’s, still trending strong. Internet users have kept following new development of the deadly ultramarathon incident in Northwest China. Several new topics have quickly gained momentum to make the list ― such as personal credit reports containing insulting language, Chinese-made vaccines and newly emerged asymptomatic cases of Covid-19.

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

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

2. Deadly hit and run attack 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. It is reported that he was upset because of a failed investment and wanted to “take revenge on society.”

3. Personal credit reports found to include insulting words

A consumer finance company in central China have reportedly been found using humiliating or insulting language (external source, in Chinese) in a customer’s personal credit report.

4. 21 runners killed during mountain race in Northwest China’s Gansu province

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

5. 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. According to the report, professional institutions continue to monitor the building’s tilt rate, acceleration and other conditions in real time. The expert group said that as of noon on May 23, the monitoring data was normal and did not exceed the requirements of the corresponding standards.

6. Current Chinese-made vaccines are effective against mutated strains of Covid-19

Shao Yiming, a researcher at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and a member of the vaccine research and development expert team of the Scientific Research Group, said at a press conference that preliminary research results show that China’s existing vaccines can deal with Indian variants (external source, in Chinese) and can produce a certain degree of protection.

7. China delivers 500 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine

People across China have been vaccinated (external source, in Chinese) in a mass drive to combat imported Covid-19 variants. With vaccination doses now numbering over 500 million, including 80% of over-18s receiving their first dose in Beijing.

8. Wanda sells off most of its remaining stake in AMC Entertainment

Wanda Group has sold off (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.

9. Two new asymptomatic Covid-19 cases discovered in Shenzhen

At a press conference on Shenzhen’s epidemic prevention and control, local authorities reported that two newly discovered asymptomatic infections had participated in the same overseas cargo ship operations as the two previously discovered asymptomatic cases.

10. China’s General Administration of Sport holds a meeting on the safety management of sporting events

In the wake of the tragic mountain race in China’s northwestern province of Gansu, during which 21 people were killed in extreme weather conditions, the General Administration of Sport convened a meeting (external source, in Chinese) to discuss improvements to risk prevention and safety measures at sporting events.

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.