Trending searches on Wechat: Yuzuru Hanyu; Anti-corruption; Regulation on TV series
This newsletter gives you a rundown of the top ten most popular searches on Wechat (Weixin 微信), a popular instant messaging app in China, on Friday.
Wechat, Tencent Holdings Ltd.'s app, has evolved into a platform where individuals can search for news and information, make transactions, create self-made videos, subscribe to publications, and so on, with instant messaging as its primary function.
Wechat's monthly active user (MAU) has topped 1.2 billion, according to Tencent's Q3 report of 2021. According to China Youth Daily, a corporate executive claimed last month that the MAU for Wechat's search feature has surpassed 700 million.
Today's Top 10 Trending Searchers on Wechat:
China finished second in freestyle skiing mixed team aerials - Xinhua
Hanyu of Japan falls on his quadruple axel attempt - Xinhua
Corrupt senior official criticized for being shameless - Supreme People's Procuratorate (Chinese)
X-ray film of Jia Zongyang (silver medal winner of Olympics) brings tears to eyes - Picture
Police place a shackled women's husband under "criminal enforcement measure" on suspicion of illegal detention and human trafficking - Caixin Global
UK's Prince Charles tests positive for COVID - Reuters
China rolls out payment rules for TV series stars - Xinhua, and links for full text of plan (Chinese)
US denies claims that its Starlink satellites has endangered China’s crewed space station - SCMP
China's foreign ministry closely follows incident in which Chinese student was attacked by ROK citizens - Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Head Olympic judge admits scoring error in snowboard contest which saw Chinese Su Yiming miss gold - Insider
The Winter Olympics are clearly the most popular topic on Chinese social media, with four of the top 10 most popular searches being related to the games. I believe it is beneficial to the country, given that not everyone in the wide territory has access to a favorable natural environment for winter sports. I'll also skip the two sports-related ones of today's top three to give you more time to watch the games if you're interested.
Corrupt senior official criticized for being shameless
Cai Esheng, former vice chairman of the now defunct China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), was arrested on suspicion of bribery and abuse of power, the Supreme People's Procuratorate said Thursday.
The 71-year-old former senior official fell under investigation in July 2021, eight years after after he retired.
A recent investigation, conducted by the country's top anti-graft agency, found that Cai has lost his ideals and convictions and betrayed his original aspirations and mission. The statement from the agency said that Cai was shameless.
According to the investigation, Cai abused his power as a financial regulating official and severely disrupted the financial market. He also accepted invitations to banquets, sightseeing tours and luxurious leisure activities, which may have compromised the fulfillment of his duties.
Cai was also found to have taken advantage of the positions he held and assisted others in matters including loans, project contracting and promotion. In return, he accepted huge amounts of money and valuables.
Before joining the CBRC, Cai worked for the central bank for about 20 years and experienced multiple stages of the development and reform of China's financial industry.