Pop Star Kris Wu Arrested in Beijing, First Doping Case at Tokyo Olympics, Melting Snow Floods Sinopec Site

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 pop star Kris Wu being detained on rape allegations. They are also following the flood at a Sinopec site in Xinjiang.

1. Beijing police arrest pop star Kris Wu on rape allegations

Police in Beijing have arrested Chinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu on rape allegations. Wu has been embroiled in scandal after Du Meizhu, 18, accused him of having sex with her while she was unconscious.

2. First doping case at Tokyo Olympics

Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare (external source, in Chinese) was banned from the Olympics after failing a drug test, the first doping case at the Tokyo Olympics track and field competition, the Athletics Integrity Unit said Saturday.

3. China’s top virus expert expresses concern over in outbreak in Zhangjiajie

China’s top respiratory disease specialist, Zhong Nanshan, expressed serious concern about the latest outbreak in Zhangjiajie (external source, in Chinese), a famous tourist destination in Central China’s Hunan province. More than 2,000 people had gathered in a theater to watch a show in Zhangjiajie and four of them later tested positive for Covid-19.

4. Highly infectious Delta strain may cause more serious disease

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (external source, in Chinese) suggested that the Covid-19 Delta strain is no less infectious than chickenpox and may cause more severe disease than earlier strains, citing data from recent outbreak investigations and external studies.

5. Jiangsu province closes 55 highway toll station entry-exit points

East China’s Jiangsu province (external source, in Chinese) temporarily closed entrance and exit points of 55 highway toll stations in cities including Nanjing, Huai’an, Yangzhou, Taizhou, Nantong, and Suzhou.

6. Tencent to rectify domestic fandom culture

Tencent announced a rectification operation (external source, in Chinese) on June 12th for “fan clubs” to crack down on irrational star-chasing behavior such as abetting excessive consumption and cyberbullying.

7. Melting snow floods Sinopec site in Xinjiang desert

A snowmelt flood in the Taklamakan Desert in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region has swamped a Sinopec exploration site. The state-owned petroleum and chemical giant posted a video of the flooding Thursday on social media, showing that 30,000 sets of equipment and nearly 50 exploration vehicles were flooded.

8. German cycling coach removed from Olympics after racial slur

The German Olympic Sports Confederation (external source, in Chinese) announced Thursday that cycling coach Patrick Moster is being sent home from the Tokyo Olympics for making racist comments at men’s individual time trial on Wednesday.

9. China warns against mixing and matching Covid-19 vaccines

Wang Huaqing, the chief expert of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention immunization planning, said Saturday that the domestic coronavirus vaccines (external source, in Chinese) of different technical routes cannot be mixed and matched.

10. Amazon fined $887 million over European privacy violations

Amazon has been fined (external source, in Chinese) a record 746 million euros ($887 million) by European privacy regulators for violating EU data protection laws, the company disclosed in a securities filing on Friday.

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.