China Suspends Cinemas in Covid Risk Areas, Flood-Damaged Cars Reach Market, U.S. Deer Have Covid Antibodies From January 2020

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 the country’s divorce rate which plunged nearly 40% in the first half of 2021. They are also following the Huawei chief financial officer’s final extradition hearings.

1. Divorces plunge nearly 40% in first half

China saw 966,000 divorce registrations (external source, in Chinese) nationwide in the first half, a year-on-year drop of 39.4%, according to data released Tuesday by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

2. Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou enters final extradition hearings facing steep odds

Huawei’s Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou faces long odds as her extradition fight enters its final phases, more than two and a half years after her arrest triggered a diplomatic impasse between China, the U.S. and Canada.

3. China suspends cinema operations in medium and high-risk areas

The China Film Administration (external source, in Chinese) announced Thursday that cinema attendance in Covid low-risk areas should be kept below 75% of capacity, and showings should be suspended in medium and high-risk areas.

4. Beijing to cancel August events due to Covid-19

Beijing has decided to cancel major events (external source, in Chinese) scheduled for August and urged relevant departments to track the movement of highly mobile populations, including taxi drivers and couriers.

5. China warns of flood-damaged cars reaching second-hand market

The national broadcaster CCTV (external source, in Chinese) tells viewers that repaired flood-damaged cars will be pushed onto the second-hand market, suggesting that people should pay attention when buying used cars in the wake of widespread flooding in Henan province. Electrical components of flood-affected cars are seriously damaged, and engines may stall suddenly, according to CCTV-quoted experts.

6. Beijing requires information about major emergencies to be released within five hours

The Beijing government (external source, in Chinese) announced Friday that in the case of major emergencies, responsible departments should release information to the public via authoritative media within 5 hours and strengthen monitoring of online discourse.

7. China vows to control latest scattered local outbreaks within weeks

He Qinghua, an official from the National Health Commission (external source, in Chinese), said Thursday that China’s ongoing outbreak caused by the delta variant of the coronavirus is “largely controllable.” He noted that the outbreak can be largely controlled within a few weeks as long as local authorities strictly implement virus control measures.

8. U.S. disputes WHO call to delay Covid booster shots

The World Health Organization (external source, in Chinese) said Wednesday that halting booster vaccinations until the end of September would help alleviate serious inequalities in vaccine distribution between wealthy and poor countries. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki responded that U.S. has enough vaccine supply to make sure every American gets vaccinated while making vaccine donations.

9. Wild U.S. deer found with coronavirus antibodies last January

Antibodies to coronavirus are found in one-third of white-tailed deer (external source, in Chinese) in the northeastern U.S., with the earliest positive samples dating back to January 2020, according to a study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July.

10. Fauci says U.S. could see 200,000 Covid-19 cases daily in fall

Chief White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci (external source, in Chinese) on Wednesday said the U.S. could see the daily number of confirmed Covid-19 cases reach 200,000 this fall.

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.