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May 21

Guizhou Dushibao 21May
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Man finds his brother’s killer after 16 years

Sometimes the wheels of justice turn slowly. And sometimes you have to make them turn yourself. The Guizhou Metropolis Daily today has a front page headline that reads “He’s lying!” (他在扯谎), which was the phrase uttered by a man who heard his brother’s murderer proclaim his innocence. For 16 long years, Yang Shunming has been looking for the man who killed his brother, and by something of a fluke, he found him sitting at another table at a society dinner. The man had a new name, a new job, and dark secret.  Read more

May 17

The Danwei Bulletin May 16, 2013
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AQSIQ: Excessive lead detected in L’Occitane exfoliant

This post is an extract from the Danwei Bulletin, a briefing of company and market news collected from the Chinese news and social media before the information appears in English language reporting and sent to premium subscribers of the FT’s China Confidential and Danwei. Please click here for more information.

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Chinese media last week reported that the Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) announced that they had detected excessive amounts of lead in a foreign skin care product: “Almond Delicious Paste”, a skincare exfoliant product sold by the French company L’Occitane en Provence. L’Occitane is a Hong Kong-listed French company. Read more

May 13

Xiandai Jinbao 13May
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Migrant workers forming “temporary couples” in the cities

The millions of migrant workers in China have a tough life. Leaving their homes to find work and separated from their families almost all year round, they toil in the cities for little pay and reside in ramshackle lodgings. Yet this much we know about migrant workers, what we know less about is how these migrant workers deal with the loneliness and isolation of their long and difficult sojourns. After more than a month of research and interviews with migrant workers in the city of Ningbo, the Contemporary Gold (现代金报) newspaper from Zhejiang province today published a front page story on the phenomenon of migrant workers forming “temporary couples” (临时夫妻) in the cities.

The newspaper recounts the stories of a few individual migrant workers in Ningbo that have formed temporary bonds of love and support in the cities to help shoulder the difficult burden of urban life. The newspaper quotes statistics from the Ministry of Health that around 80% of migrant workers in China are in a sex-starved state. And not only this, they are alone in an unfamiliar location, with little money, and no-one to comfort them. So perhaps it’s not at all surprising that migrant workers are seeking to make temporary arrangements.

One of the stories that Contemporary Gold relates today is that of Old Shen and Xiaoyan, both married migrant workers, who found each other in Ningbo. Their tale illustrates just how some migrant workers are dealing with the difficult circumstances they face in the cities, and how they have to face the consequences of their decisions.

Read more

May 10

Toothpaste Safety Scare Mentions on Weibo
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Whitening toothpaste safety scare

This post is an extract from the Danwei Bulletin, a briefing of company and market news collected from the Chinese news and social media before the information appears in English language reporting and sent to premium subscribers of the FT’s China Confidential and Danwei. Please click here for more information.

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On May 2, Modern Life Daily 当代生活报 reported on a study of test results of whitening toothpaste from Guangxi University for Nationalities, located in Nanning. The study found that six brands of whitening toothpaste contained ‘carcinogenic sulfites’. In response, the China Oral Health Products Industry Association cast doubt on the methodology of the study, but the report caused a spike of social media conversations on Sina Weibo, many of them negative. Read more

May 3

Sanitary Pads_Page_2
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Fake sanitary pads: Massive margins driving rampant piracy

A typical sanitary pad customer will remain loyal to one brand for several decades, so a company with a strong brand and good distribution has a license to print money. And where there is money in China, there are pirates. Southern Metropolis Daily 南方都市报 last week reported that counterfeit sanitary pads worth over 150 million yuan were seized by police in a port city famous for its smugglers: Quanzhou in Fujian province. Read more

May 2

Haixi Chenbao 2May
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May Day aftermath: 180 tons of trash left on Gulangyu Island

Another public holiday in China, another mountain of trash. The front page of the Haixi Morning Post (海西晨报) from Xiamen today is one of a few newspapers around China looking back on a public holiday of gridlocked traffic, congested scenic spots and – inevitably – mountains of trash, again.
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Apr 26

Weibo Quake Donations Chart_Page_1_Page_1
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Corporate earthquake donations and social media

Soon after the Sichuan earthquake of 2008, donation fever gripped China as individuals and companies lined up to donate funds for disaster relief. Some of this enthusiasm turned sour: Internet users drew up a spurious list of the top ten “international iron roosters” 国际铁公鸡 accusing global brands like Samsung, Nokia, and Coca-Cola of donating nothing to the earthquake relief effort despite reaping in millions in profits in the China. Read more

Apr 25

Zhoukou Wanbao 25Apr
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Traffic policeman leaves black Audi with fake plates blocking gate

The black Audi has a reputation in China as the car of choice for the rich and powerful. Or for anyone pretending to be rich and powerful. And sometimes the dividing line between reality and pretense can become blurred. With the headline “Car blocks entrance to small community, is it the car that’s awesome or the driver?”, the front page of the Zhoukou Evening Paper from Zhoukou (周口) in eastern Henan today relates the story of a black Audi whose driver, a traffic policeman, clearly considers himself above the law. Read more

Apr 23

Chongqing Shibao 23Apr
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Weeping over broken pots in Ya’an

“In the Ya’an earthquake disaster zone I sobbed twice, and both times were by the side of cooking pots”.

The Chongqing Times newspaper today has a special section on the earthquake that occurred in the city of Ya’an (雅安) in Sichuan province last weekend. The special section, entitled “We are all Ya’an people now”, looks at the state of affairs 72 hours after the earthquake with the observation that “The destroyed area is calm and collected as it was before“. In eight pages of in-depth coverage, we see the extent of the destruction, how the survivors are being looked after, and how some people are trying their best to get on with their lives. One page in this special section outlines the findings of a journalist who went to take pictures of damaged homes, and found himself looking at a myriad destroyed stoves and pots as a cruel metaphor for the immense destruction wrought on people’s lives and livelihoods by the earthquake. Seeing all this destruction, there were two occasions when he wept.
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Apr 18

Guangzhou Ribao 18Apr
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Gold rush in Guangzhou

The global price of gold has tanked, and Guangzhou’s gold market is booming.

The front page of the Guangzhou Daily (广州日报) today has images of long queues that formed the last few weeks in the city of people seeking to part with loads of cash for cheap gold.
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Apr 15

Yangzi Wanbao 15Apr
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Chengguan makes video to “clear up misunderstandings” of his profession

This is probably not going the get the hated chengguan any love, but one of their number has made a short video in the style of a popular recent television advertisement to try and “clear up some misunderstandings” surrounding his profession. His video probably did nothing of the sort, but you can’t fault him for ripping off another television advertisement to try and stem some of the overwhelming negative press his profession generates. Or perhaps you can.   Read more

Apr 12

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“Don’t let your stomach become an animal graveyard”

The newspaper Daily Sunshine (晶报) from Shenzhen in Guangdong province today includes a special section entitled “Evil returns from the grave” (恶的还魂) (or perhaps another translation could be “The recycling of evil”) as a “reflection on the relationship between animals and humans”. The largest part of the newspaper’s front page is taken up by a Xi Jinping headline and a large image on the ongoing standoff on the Korean peninsula. The top corner of the front page refers to the sudden cancelling of the Tarantino film Django Unchained. Read more

Apr 10

The Danwei Bulletin Image
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The Danwei Bulletin

The Danwei Bulletin is a new weekly report produced by Danwei and published on the FT’s China Confidential website and sent to premium subscribers. The Danwei Bulletin is a briefing of company and market news collected from the Chinese news and social media before the information appears in English language reporting.

A brief summary of each week’s report can be viewed on the China Confidential website, and the full edition is available on subscription. For more information on The Danwei Bulletin or about our custom media monitoring and research services, please contact jeremy@danwei.com.

Stay ahead of the news
The examples below illustrate how the Danwei Bulletin readers get the scoop on business stories long before they hit the international media.

Gold Price
April 25 – Danwei Bulletin
Despite gold prices dropping in the last week, demand in China remains strong
Chinese social media websites were buzzing with reports of mainland Chinese visiting Hong Kong to buy gold. One photo that was widely shared shows a branch of the jeweler Chow Tai Fook with shelves completely empty after a visit by goldbug mainlanders.

May 3 – South China Morning Post
Chinese mothers beat Wall Street to force gold price rebound
Attempts by Wall Street funds to drive down bullion value through short selling thwarted by Asian mothers swooping in to buy for weddings.

May 9 – Bloomberg
At least 30 tons of gold were sold between April 29 and May 2 in Hong Kong, up more than 50 percent from last year, according to estimates by the city’s Chinese Gold & Silver Exchange Society.

Nongfu Bottled Water – major bottled water and beverage brand
April 3 – Danwei Bulletin
Bottled Water – Scandals continue
Wang Hai, a veteran Chinese anti-fraud activist, has suggested that there may be quality problems with Nongfu Spring tea beverages… Nongfu… has been on the defense recently, fending off charges that its water sources are polluted

May 3 – CCTV English – China Central Television News
Via Twitter
Nongfu Spring, China’s leading bottled water, pulled from shelves in Beijing as it failed national standards.

May 4 – Shanghai Daily
Industry body seeking Beijing ban for Nongfu Spring water
The Bottled Water Sales Association of Beijing published a notice yesterday saying that Nongfu Spring water was not only in violation of national standards but also guilty of false advertising and misleading customers.

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