2 h. ago China woman stuck in cold storage freed by delivery rider, offers man company share

A Chinese woman who thought she was going to die after locking herself in her company’s freezer was saved by a passing delivery rider who heard her pleas for help. The woman, surnamed Chen, from central China’s Hunan province, was sorting products alone in the freezer of her cold-chain logistics company on the evening of August 31. There is a smaller door built into the freezer’s main door, and safety rules require two people to move goods through the small door. However, Chen said she was...

Politics

9 h. ago Chinese biotech firm MGI’s DNA sequencers gaining in the market, BGI CEO says

DNA sequencers from Chinese firm MGI Tech can rival those from global market leader Illumina in spite of US sanctions, according to Yin Ye, CEO of BGI Group, former parent of the Shenzhen-based biotech company. MGI’s sequencers offer the best “comprehensive value” in terms of time, quality and cost, Yin said in an interview on the sidelines of the BioHK 2025 conference on Thursday. Yin, 46, pointed out that MGI’s latest product, the DNBSEQ-T7+, is “pushing physics and chemistry to the limit”, as...

Economics

2 d. ago China lover pays US$31,000 to boyfriend’s family over his suicide following fight

Prosecutors in China have ordered a woman to pay compensation of 218,000 yuan (US$31,000) to the family of her boyfriend who died after he jumped from the car she was driving during a row. Dashboard camera footage shows the man unexpectedly open the car door and jump out of the car after the woman taunted him about dying. The woman, known as Liu, was detained by police in Hejin, in the northern province of Shanxi, following her boyfriend’s death in April last year, the Legal Daily reported. Liu...

Economics

4 d. ago China woman finds first love after 16 years at his shop: couple quickly get engaged

A Chinese woman ran into the first love of her life at a noodle shop 16 years after they last met, and the pair got engaged six days later. The woman was buying breakfast as usual at a rice noodle shop in Huizhou city, Guangdong province, southern China, on August 23, when she suddenly realised that the owner was her secondary school sweetheart and first love. She asked him if he really was who she thought he was and they began chatting before exchanging contact information. The owner of the...

Politics

5 d. ago Japan ‘scary person rental service’ deals with mistresses, debt collection, bullies

A Japanese company has become an online hit for offering a “scary person rental service” to help clients sort out a range of “troubles”. An online user, known in Japan by the handle @yukitichqn, posted screenshots of the service’s web page on social media on August 28. The post has received 300,000 likes and 36,000 reposts. Called a “scary person rental service”, the service rents out menacing-looking members of staff with tattoos, hinting at their potential for violence. The firm promises that...

Economics

6 d. ago China firm offers annual weight loss bonus; 1 person earns US$2,800 for losing 18kg

A Chinese company has triggered widespread discussion online by offering a one-million-yuan (US$140,000) bonus to encourage weight loss among employees, with one staff member receiving 20,000 yuan after shedding over 20kg in just 90 days. On August 12, Shenzhen-based tech firm Arashi Vision Inc., more commonly known as Insta360, made headlines with its annual “Million Yuan Weight Loss Challenge.” This initiative, held each year, aims to motivate employees to adopt healthier lifestyles by...

Economics

6 d. ago Chinese delivery rider and biker face off for 4 hours at narrow crossing

A food delivery rider and a man on an electric bike in southern China blocked each other for at least four hours at a narrow crossing, as neither was willing to budge. Video clips of these two determined individuals went viral on mainland China, delighting millions of internet users, according to Dafeng News. The incident took place on August 24 in the bustling Huicheng District of Huizhou, Guangdong province. It involved a food delivery man and a young man, both perched on their electric bikes,...

Politics

7 d. ago Starbucks China valued at about US$5 billion by bidders, sources say

Most of the bidders seeking to buy a portion of Starbucks’ China operations have submitted offers valuing the business at as much as US$5 billion, said two people with knowledge of the discussions. That would make a potential deal one of the most valuable China unit divestments by a global consumer company in recent years. The offers, which have not been reported previously, would let Starbucks push ahead with the sale in a market where it faces sluggish growth and stiff competition from local...

Economics

7 d. ago China mum, 50, gets into law school after using books of son who failed same test

A 50-year-old woman in China who suffered debilitating and disfiguring long-term injuries in a fire more than a decade ago has been admitted by a top university after she studied the books her failing son had used. In July, the woman, known as Yang, received an admission letter from the graduate school of Southwest Forestry University in Kunming, Yunnan province, southwestern China, where she will study law, Hubei TV reported. She sat the graduate school’s entrance test twice. “I once had an...

Events

9 d. ago Unitree to file IPO documents in fourth quarter for likely A

Unitree Robotics, the country’s top humanoid robot maker, said it would file documents to an onshore stock exchange in mainland China between October and December this year, suggesting it will soon go public. While the Hangzhou-based firm’s statement did not specify whether it was seeking a listing in Shanghai, Beijing or Shenzhen, a source familiar with the matter said that the company was eyeing an onshore initial public offering (IPO) as the first step. “At present, the company is actively...

Politics

1 week ago China worker scoops oil from rubbish bin; eatery claims it’s for sale, not cooking

A hotpot restaurant in China has gone viral amid allegations that it was cooking with used oil taken from a roadside rubbish bin. On August 18, in Chongqing, southwestern China, a netizen posted a video showing a woman in her sixties, surnamed Zhang, apparently scooping used oil from a swill bin. The footage showed the woman dressed in the uniform of a local hotpot restaurant. She was carrying a ladle and a plastic bucket. When asked who had told her to collect the oil, the woman responded...

Economics

1 week ago Tesla China cuts price of new Model 3 as moment of truth nears

Tesla cut the price of its new, longer-range Model 3 variant by nearly 4 per cent just before deliveries were set to begin, a move set to heighten competition in mainland China’s premium electric vehicle (EV) segment. The US carmaker said on Monday that it would price the Shanghai-made car, which boasts a driving range of 830km, at 259,500 yuan (US$36,391), 10,000 yuan lower than the price it touted on August 12. Deliveries are expected to begin this month. The company is also offering mainland...

Politics

1 week ago China wife ‘depressed’ after window cleaners see her asleep naked; demands rent cut

A woman in China has developed depression after two male window cleaners saw her asleep naked in her home. The woman and her husband live in Port Apartment, a high-end housing estate in Chengdu, in southwestern Sichuan province. They pay 10,000 yuan (US$1,400) a month in rent. Her plight captivated mainland social media after her husband, surnamed Cheng, exposed the situation online in the middle of August. The couple said they were not satisfied with the manner in which the property management...

Politics

2 w. ago Indonesia protests erupt after delivery rider death in first test for Prabowo

Protests erupted in multiple cities and tensions soared across Indonesia on Friday, a day after a delivery rider was allegedly run over by a police armoured vehicle during clashes between riot police and students protesting against lawmakers’ allowances. Protesters marched to the headquarters of the police mobile brigade in the capital Jakarta on Friday, and some attempted to storm the compound. Police used water cannons and fired rounds of tear gas to push back the demonstrators, who hurled...

Events

2 w. ago Chinese man jailed for invading woman’s home, drawing her blood for ‘stress relief’

A Chinese man who broke into a woman’s home, sedated her and drew her blood has claimed he did it to relieve stress. The home invader has been jailed for two years, and his bizarre actions have sparked outrage online. The disturbing incident took place in the early hours of January 1, 2024, when the man, surnamed Li, broke into the home of a woman called Yu in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, southeastern China. At the time, Yu was asleep in her bedroom while her husband was out. Li gained entry by...

Events

2 w. ago Chinese woman spends grandchild’s US$8,600 tuition to fix wrinkles, block bad luck

A 58-year-old woman in China spent 62,000 yuan (US$8,600) on wrinkle-removing treatment, believing it would stop her husband from cheating. The woman from central China’s Henan province, surnamed Cui, went to a therapy centre in her residential compound on August 11. The owner of the centre and another customer took Cui to a nearby plastic surgery clinic, suggesting that she should try out aesthetic medicine. A surgeon told Cui that she had too many wrinkles on her face and that they would...

Economics

2 w. ago China delivery man saves trapped woman after seeing pillow with ‘110’ written on it

A driver in China who spotted a white pillow scrawled with the emergency number 110 in blood during a food delivery has helped rescue a woman who was trapped in her bedroom for 30 hours without food or water. The incident unfolded on August 12, in Leshan, Sichuan province, southwestern China. The delivery driver surnamed Zhang, a university student working a summer job, spotted a white pillow stained with dark red liquid and marked with the numbers 110 625, lying on the roadside near a...

Politics

2 w. ago Dongfeng Motor to list EV unit in Hong Kong, privatise parent firm

Dongfeng Motor, a major state-owned Chinese carmaker, plans to privatise its Hong Kong-traded unit and list its electric vehicle (EV) subsidiary as part of a transition towards electrification. The company – based in Wuhan, the capital of central Hubei province – is offering shareholders HK$6.68 (US$0.85) per share, valuing the listed unit at HK$55.1 billion, according to a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange late on Friday. The offer represents an 11.9 per cent premium over the closing...

Economics

2 w. ago ‘Go catch him’: Chinese musician stops show to help woman capture sexual assailant

A young Chinese rapper, Apmozart, paused his performance to assist a woman in capturing a molester, earning the title of “Captain Justice” online. During a live show at a venue in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, in eastern China, Apmozart was interrupted by a female audience member who urgently called for help. Due to the loud music, the rapper initially did not hear her and handed his microphone to her. Speaking into the mic, the woman revealed that she had been molested by a male stranger,...

Politics

3 w. ago Married Chinese man dies after hotel sex with lover; his family seeks US$77,000

A court in China has ordered a woman to pay 62,000 yuan (US$8,600) in compensation to the family of her married lover who died after having sex with her in a hotel room. The reason for the death of the 66-year-old man, surnamed Zhou, was acute myocardial infarction, according to a medical certificate issued by a local hospital, according to Red Star News. Hours before his death, Zhou had sex with his lover, identified as Zhuang, at a hotel in Pingnan county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region,...

Society