China Aims to Have 80% of People Vaccinated by Year-End; Hit-and-Run Suspect Arrested; Pachyderms on Parade

Here’s today’s ranking of the 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.

Interest in social media was piqued by news of a stabbing in Nanjing, but was largely dominated by concern for the latest Covid-19 developments in South China’s Guangdong province. Internet users also closely followed to process of China’s vaccine rollout, as the country passed the 600 million mark for the number of doses administered.

1. Man held after hit-and-run rampage in eastern city of Nanjing

Police in Nanjing, East China’s Jiangsu province, have detained (external source, in Chinese) a hit-and-run suspect who witnesses had seen running over a woman and stabbing a passersby on Saturday night.

2. 13 new asymptomatic Covid-19 cases detected in Guangdong

As of Saturday, 13 new cases of local asymptomatic infections had been found (link in Chinese) in recent flare-up of Covid-19 in South China’s Guangdong province, with 12 cases reported in Guangzhou, and one case reported in the city of Foshan.

3. Leading scientist says that China’s vaccine coverage will reach 80% by the end of the year

Zhong Nanshan, an academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering, predicted in an interview (external source, in Chinese) that by the end of this year, China’s vaccination rate for Covid-19 will reach 80% of the population, though the country’s vaccine production capacity will need to be strengthened.

4. Covid-19 outbreak in Guangzhou is spreading fast and highly transmissible, experts say

At a press conference held by the Guangzhou city government, Huang Guanglie, director of the Guangzhou Municipal Health Commission, said that compared with last year’s local Covid-19 outbreak, the characteristics of the current outbreak suggest that the virus is highly transmissible (external source, in Chinese), prompting calls for more disease control measures.

5. Less than one in 10,000 have had a severe adverse reaction to China’s Covid-19 vaccines, research shows

Data released by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that the reported incidence rate of adverse reactions to Chinese Covid-19 vaccines was 11.86 per 100,000, with severe reactions accounting for just 17% of those. Experts have said that the data show that the public can be assured that the vaccines are safe.

6. Government promises to cover losses resulting from wild elephant migration

On Friday, a herd of wild elephants in the southwestern province of Yunnan began migrating north. As the herd made its way through farmland, the animals began eating and trampling crops, resulting in around 6.8 million yuan in damages (external source, in Chinese). The government has agreed to compensate the farmers for their losses.

7. Taiwan confirms a further 355 Covid-19 cases

Taiwan’s disease control authority reported it found another 355 cases of Covid-19 (external source, in Chinese). The number of cases in Taiwan has risen sharply. From May 16 to Sunday, the island has reported more than 200 new local cases each day for fifteen straight days, with a total of 98 deaths.

8. China passes 600 million administered vaccine doses

China’s National Health Commission announced Saturday that more than 600 million doses (external source, in Chinese) of the Covid-19 vaccine had been administered nationwide, with the last 100 million vaccinations being administered in just five days.

9. 25 arrested on suspicion of smuggling over 24,000 tons of sugar

Nanjing customs authorities have arrested 25 people on suspicion of smuggling more than 24,000 tons of sugar (external source, in Chinese) valued at more than 250 million yuan. According the customs authority, the sugar smugglers have not only dodged paying a large amount of national tariffs, but have also damaged China’s agricultural security.

10. Child safety seats will become part of national Chinese legislation as of Tuesday

For the first time, child safety seats (external source, in Chinese) will be explicitly featured in a national law for the protection of minors. The new law will stipulate that guardians should “adopt child safety seats and educate minors” as well as “observe traffic rules and other measures to prevent minors from being injured in traffic accidents.”

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.