The first day being an in-home tutor, Chen only felt shocked. She was then majoring in Chinese literature at a prestigious university in Beijing. She saw a message in a Wechat group in need of an in-home tutor teaching both Chinese and English. Wanting to make some pocket money, she took the deal.
Category: Hong Kong Freelancing Global Gig
Hong Kong Freelancing Global Gig
6G Technology, the Race for Telecommunication Dominance
The battle for 6G is already intensifying, although this communication standard remains purely theoretical, but it highlights how geopolitics is fueling the technological rivalry, especially between the US and China. However, it is highly likely the 6G technology will not be available until 2030.
The Poor Kid That Resembles Jack Ma is Home
The kid that looks like Jack Ma is finally back home. On February 19, Fan Xiaoqin’s father, Fan Jiafa, told journalists that his youngest son, after four years of fame, would come back to continue the 4th grade at a local primary school. The man that hired Xiaoqin, Liu Changjiang, terminated the contract earlier this year.
HSBC Exits U.S. Retail Banking Business
HSBC Holdings will announce its 2020 annual results on Tuesday, and the investment community is concerned about the results of its strategic review. The British Financial Times quoted a person familiar with the matter as saying that HSBC will revisit its “pivot to Asia” business strategy and withdraw from retail banking in the United States.
Chinese Internet Troll Arrested for Defaming National Heroes
Since the imprisonment of the provocative Spanish rapper Pablo Hasél on February 16, violent street protests have been going on every night across Spain despite the Covid-19 nightly curfew imposed by the Spanish government. For his “lyrics and tweets that compared Spanish judges to Nazis and called former King Juan Carlos a mafia boss,” among other accusations, Pablo was given a nine-month prison sentence.
Chinese Young People Rush Into National Civil Service Examination in Hope of Stability
Having graduated from one of the best universities in China, Na still hasn’t found a job in six months. “Sometimes I even think about becoming a waitress. But my family wouldn’t allow me. It’s a disgrace for their reputation. But here in Xinjiang, there are barely any good job offers.” Finding no better way out, she signed up for the next National Civil Service Examination (NCSE), which led to a second problem: should she sign up for a training course?
Disney Takes Substantial Hit, Still Profitable
Disney’s performance in the last quarter was unexpectedly profitable. In the first quarter of this fiscal year, it recorded a profit of $17 million, a year-on-year decrease of 99%. After deducting special items, the profit per share was 32 cents, which was better than the market’s expected loss of 41 cents.
Young People Rush into Financial Market in China
A recent report by Tencent shows that in China, over 84% of post-90s (people born after 1990) are doing some sort of personal financial planning (PFP), especially investing in the stocks and the funds. It’s like suddenly, everyone is talking about “Baijiu” (a Chinese liquor), one of the most speculated funds during the last year along with medical stocks.
Young People Find Construction Sites More Comfortable Than Factories in China
Born in 1999, Yang is the youngest construction worker on his team. He has no regrets about working a blue-collar job. Six years ago, dreaming to shine in a big city, Yang came to Xiamen with some friends after finishing only junior high school.
In the beginning, not knowing what to do, he listened to a friend’s idea and signed up for a training course to become a hairdresser. During a whole month, he did nothing but washing hair. “The final exam was to wash the instructor’s hair. If he felt comfortable, course completed. I didn’t even touch any scissors there.”
Shanghai Police Arrest Members of China’s Leading Fansub Team
On February 3, Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau hosted a special press conference that caused deep sadness all over the internet in China.
“The suspects have created several companies since 2018 with overseas servers. They download videos via illegal foreign torrent websites and hire translators to make Chinese subtitles for $60 per episode.
Working Overtime Becomes Normal in China
Everyone knows that Chinese white-collars work overtime, but to what extent? Recently, a study by Zhaopin, one of China’s largest online headhunters, has given us a peek at the truth.
About 81.95% employees work overtime every week, 77.61% of whom do it for free. 24.70% of them even work overtime every day without being paid. The average overtime is 6.45h per week. In 2016, Chinese mobile transportation platform DiDi published a ranking of the companies with the most overtime, the top 3 being JD, Tencent and 58Ganji. The average time of leaving the office at JD was 23:16. DiDi has stopped publishing this ranking, possibly due to PR pressures from such companies. But the situation apparently didn’t improve just because the statistics are no longer disclosed.
Side Hustle – How to Turn Your Ideas into Money
If this is the first time you’re hearing of a side hustle, let me elaborate – generally speaking, a side hustle is something you do “on the side” that brings in extra money, in addition to your mainstream of income. The income your side hustle brings in is often directly related to the effort you put in. It can involve spending 1 to 2 hours a week completing surveys or using rebate programs, or it can be a full-fledged business that you grow in the evenings and weekends, spending 10 to 15 hours a week. Side hustles can bring in anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand a month!
B2B — SAP Hong Kong, Deloitte Team Up
SAP Hong Kong and Deloitte have teamed up to bring an enhanced product solution to their customers. The union deal allows Deloitte to extend SAP products to clients, including SAP GTS which is ideal for global companies that have to deal with international B2B trading compliance issues.
Chinese Couples Get Poorer After Marriage
Recently, a new opinion thread opened on Douban, a Chinese social website where people discuss anything: “How much does a wedding cost? My boyfriend and I are getting married as soon as we’ve saved enough money.” The answers, however, are a bit intimidating.
Even people from small cities or towns claim that a wedding could easily cost them over $30,000, three times the annual GDP per capita in China. Are Doubaners being extravagant or is that the reality nowadays?
Creator of WeChat Blames Keyboard Apps for Stealing User Data
Allen Zhang, known for leading the developments of WeChat, QQMail and FoxMail, three major products of Tencent, announced on this year’s Night of WeChat that WeChat will soon have its own virtual keyboard app. Why? ‘To keep other keyboard apps from stealing user information and chat history.’
“On a daily basis, there are 1.09 billion users texting on WeChat, 330 million of them use it to have a video call. 670 million photos are uploaded on WeChat Moments and over 100 million short videos every day.” Since its first version in 2011, WeChat has now become a must-have for the Chinese people. It’s an app for everything: messaging, social media, mobile payment, food ordering, train and flight tickets booking… Many companies even use it as their main communication tool.
Antitrust Investigation Against Alibaba – Bluff or Just a Start?
In late December 2020, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation announced that they have launched an antitrust investigation against Chinese tech giant Alibaba, whose “pick one” policy has received multiple complaints from its competitors over the years.
The “Pick one” policy dates back to 2013 when Alibaba forced online-shop owners to choose only one place to run their business: either they close their shops on Tmall and Taobao, Alibaba’s own platforms, or they exit all other platforms, especially JD, the second biggest platform at that time. Since 2017, JD has been suing Alibaba for its unreasonable policy.
Xiaomi – The Chinese Brand
Founded in 2010, Xiaomi managed to establish itself in China before expanding its international market to the point where it was regularly referred to as the “Chinese Apple”.
With less than 10 years of service, the brand co-founded by several entrepreneurs continues to leverage immense potential, focusing on several products, including smartphones.
Chinese Celebrity Accused of Abandoning Her 2 Surrogate Kids
Zheng Shuang got famous in China thanks to her leading role in the phenomenal TV series Let’s Watch the Meteor Shower in 2009. She has remained one of the top female celebrities for over a decade without other noticeable works. Her pretty face and bold personality have gained her a rather radical fan base, who always defend her all over the internet whenever there is any negative news about Zheng. But things are different this time.
Knowledge Anxiety – Paid Study Rooms Thrive in China
Unlike traditional cafés, Paid Study Rooms (PSRs), the name already gives away how it works: people pay to self-study here. Many of them bear the word “dream” in it, like Dream Runner, Dream Seeker or Dream Builder. In this society where competition and hardworking are extensively encouraged, PSR has just started its journey.
Founder of Alibaba Becomes the Symbol of Capitalism in China
Where is Jack Ma? The whole world is wondering what has happened to one of the richest men in China, who used to have a very high profile and now has disappeared for over two months. The founder of Alibaba didn’t even show up in Africa’s Business Heroes as scheduled, a TV show funded by Jack Ma Foundation. Concerns and speculations over his current situation have been circulating in China.
Chinese Internet Users Indignant at Another Young Karoshi
Right before the new year, on December 29, Zhang didn’t leave work until 01:30 a.m. While walking home with her colleagues, she suddenly fainted. Even though she was immediately sent to a local hospital in Urumchi, she still passed away six hours later.
The tragedy had been circulating unperceivably on the internet, until it trended on January 3. One day later, on Zhihu, people started to spread a screenshot of a post by the official account of tech giant Pinduoduo:
Hong Kong Re-Arrests Jimmy Lai
A Hong Kong court on Thursday once again issued an arrest warrant for businessman Jimmy Lai, a notable critic of China who had been granted house arrest on bail. Lai’s case is the first to involve a person accused of violating the new National Security Law, which many see as a test of the territory’s judicial independence.
Rich Chinese Couples Explore New Form of Marriage
Will China get old before it gets rich? This is an important question frequently discussed in China and by its rivals. It’s a matter of national power. The answer, according to most, is Yes. And it is already happening. Statistics from the CIA show that China has the same median age as the US, which is not a good sign for a developing country where the income per capita is not even half the level of a common developed-country.
Values Expressed by Chinese Government Unsettle Internet Users
Ding Zhen became famous overnight. On November 11, a 7-second video of him was uploaded to TikTok, in which he simply smiled slowly to the camera. It went viral and trended on many social platforms. Internet users are deeply charmed by his raw beautiful face. But no one could have foreseen how the story would unravel itself.
Concerns Over the Future of Community Group Buying in China
The concept of community group buying (CGB) started in Changsha in 2016, when several local supermarkets explored selling daily necessities online. Neighbors of the same residential unit could participate together to make a big order, and the supermarkets would deliver the orders at once in a few days.
Parents’ Anxiety Creates a New Multi-Billion Market in China
“The next Bill Gates will be someone who starts programming as a toddler.”
“In the future, illiteracy means not knowing how to code.”
Recently, many education companies in China offer programming lessons for kids from 4 years old. Such lessons consist in using toy blocks to construct required shapes and interacting with robots. A 40-minute lesson costs about $15, while a full training course usually contains more than 40 lessons.
The Marriage Between the Deceased in China
In 2008, Li Zhong suspected that his wife, Kang Cuicui, was cheating on him. They had a fight and Kang ran away. She went to a hotel and drank paraquat, an acute toxic herbicide without antidote. Her family was outraged, and Li’s parents had to spend over $15,000 to bury her properly in the family tombs. On November 14, 2020, when they went to clean the tombs, Li found out that Kang’s tomb had recently been dug up and buried again. They called the police and opened the coffin, only to find nothing inside but a big red carrot.
New Internet Fraud on the Rise in China
The Covid pandemic has greatly reduced social interactions in the real world, which becomes a big opportunity for online dating apps. They not only survived but thrived during this difficult time. However, you never know who is on the other side of the phone. In China, internet fraud is living its life this year.
Pompeo: Hong Kong Another City Controlled by CCP
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo warned business leaders that the United States will treat Hong Kong like other cities in mainland China. Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam jumped out to argue that Hong Kong’s status as a global trade and financial center will not change.
Long Commute is “Killing” Workers in China
“Every morning when I get on the subway, I feel like a pig on a slaughterhouse truck, waiting to be sacrificed.” Hu Yun spends over three hours each day on commute. In Beijing, she’s far from alone.
According to a report by Alipay, Beijing is the earliest city in China to wake up. Millions of people have to get up at 5 am when it’s still dark outside, rushing into the center of Beijing and then coming back at night. It’s Beijing’s tide. The average commute there surpasses half a marathon. “Just getting to the company already takes away all my energy. What is spare time? When I get home I only want to lie down because it’s almost midnight.”
Chinese Government Targets Private Credit Products
On December 4, Beijing Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party Beijing Municipal Committee, posted on Weibo an article titled “The Young Generation that Got Stuck in Huabei.” According to a study, there are 175 million people born between 1990 and 1999 in China, the so-called “post-90s.” Only 13.4% of them claim that they avoid any debt, while 86.6% have tried credit products, the most popular ones being Huabei and Jiebei, two credit services offered by Ant Group.
Hong Kong — Joshua Wong Remanded Over Protests
Hong Kong activist Joshua Wong pleaded guilty to inciting and staging illegal demonstrations in the Special Administrative Region, and risks up to five years in prison. The activist was remanded in custody on Monday after the first court hearing in his case, related to his involvement in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong last year.
The Impact of CoronaVirus on Travel and Tourism, Globally!
Gone are the days when we used to book flights and buy tickets without thinking about travel bans and restrictions. Unfortunately, everything has changed in the past few months – be it businesses, the education sector, or travel. The travel and tourism sector has massively suffered during the crisis. Not only airlines but almost all major tourist attractions and cruise lines have also been shut down during the pandemic.
Five Eyes Condemn China’s Actions in Hong Kong
The Five Eyes alliance, comprising of the US, UK, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, issued a joint statement on Wednesday, in which they expressed their “grave concern” over the autocratic actions of China against Hong Kong. The statement was issued through their respective foreign ministers.
Hong Kong — Five Eyes Alliance Condemns China
After the Hong Kong government canceled the qualifications of four pro-democracy legislators last week, the Foreign Ministers of the “Five Eyes Alliance” issued a statement on Wednesday, expressing concerns about China’s practices. They called on the Chinese government to stop destroying the rights and freedoms of Hong Kong people.
The Bathroom Panorama in Chinese Tech Giants
Founded in 2015, Pinduoduo is without doubt the fastest growing tech company in the world. In merely five years, it has become the strongest rival of Alibaba Group in China. Huang Zheng, the founder, is now the 4th richest man in China, 24th in the world. Together with other Chinese tech giants like Alibaba, Tencent and ByteDance, they have become the dream destination for most Chinese coders. Recently, a bathroom problem might make jobseekers think twice before applying to Pinduoduo.
You Are Not Powerless in Your Job Search During Covid-19
You probably never dreamed you’d be in search of a job during a global pandemic. Talk about challenges, right? Okay, before you get down and think your chances just slid to the floor, let’s look at what you can do to make the most of your time, and how you can land that next job interview.
One of the first things to consider is how you present yourself to others. Have you evaluated your personal brand lately? What makes you a valuable candidate to prospective employers? How will you stand out in a crowded marketplace? What transferable skills do you have? What are your strengths and how can you amplify them? Consider what courses are available to help you stay competitive in your industry. By evaluating your personal brand, you’ll get an overarching view of how potential employers see you.
Hong Kong — All Remaining Opposition MPs Resign
All of Hong Kong’s opposition MPs resigned en masse on Wednesday in protest of the removal of four of their colleagues by the local government. A new resolution from Beijing allows the Hong Kong government to remove dissident members of the Legislative Council.
Wig Town in China Struck Hard by Covid
“You know that Michelle from Africa? First Lady, her wig was made in our village.” Although someone reminded her that Michelle is an American, Zhou doesn’t think there is a difference. All that matters is that the most famous black female in the world wears a wig from Xuchang. Right now, however, the wig industry in Xuchang is having a hard time.
Future of China’s Richest Man Becomes a Timing Bomb
The rumors started at around 8:50 pm. On November 3, first Shanghai Stock Exchange announced the halt of Ant Group’s IPO on November 5, then HK Exchanges and Clearing and Ant Group published the same announcement. In less than one hour, the originally planed world’s largest IPO died on the vine. At $34.5 billion, it could have broken the record set by Saudi Aramco’s $29.4 billion IPO last year. It’s worth noting that the current second largest IPO was set by Alibaba at $25.0 billion. Both Ant Group and Alibaba were founded by Jack Ma, the richest man in China.
Hong Kong- Seven Pro-Democracy Activists Detained
Seven members of the pro-democracy opposition in Hong Kong were arrested today for being involved in the clashes in May in the parliament of the Chinese special administrative region, the police announced. “All arrestees are being detained for further inquires. The operation is under way and further arrests may be made,” the police said.
Unfinished Buildings in China Drag People Back to Poverty
Beijing. Back from work, parking the car. Even the underground parking lot has a chandelier, shedding light on the luxury cars around. Their owners might be executives at different industries. To get to the elevator, people will pass the four-season entrance hall, with tropical plants and a fountain in the middle. The house will be designed in the popular modern Chinese decoration style, outside of whose windows the lake nearby becomes a favorite for birds…
Hong Kong Activist Sought US Protection Were Asked to Leave Consulate
The four Hong Kong activists who sought protection at the U.S. consulate had previously contacted the diplomatic service, according to a British-based organization that helped several young Hong Kong people go to the US consulate.
Starbucks Exceed Earnings, Chinese Concepts Up
On Thursday, Starbucks announced the company’s fourth quarter financial report. Starbucks’ fourth-quarter revenue was $6.203 billion, a decrease of 8.1% from last year. Among them, revenue in the Americas was $4.233 billion, a decrease of 9% from last year. International revenue was $1.492 billion, a decrease of 5%.
China’s Generation 2000s – The Generation of Bucket Lifters
Foxconn never lacks for a labor force. For Foxconn, if they can’t get enough workers for $3.57/h, the easiest solution is to make it $3.72/h. During this past September, right before the launch of the iPhone 12, over 1,000 new workers joined Foxconn Zhengzhou every day, at $4.62/h. Among them, some are the 2000s. This generation is already a growing labor force. According to a government report, over 40 million 00s entered the labor market right after high school.
In China They’re Asking “Is a Full-time Housewife a Waste of Education Resources?”
In 1996, Zhang Guimei applied to transfer herself to teach at a school in a remote village, Huaping, after her husband passed away of cancer. One year later, she was diagnosed with uterine fibroids. Seeing the conditions in which local female students were living, she decided to dedicate the rest of her life to help these girls to “fly out of the mountains and never come back.” In 2008, after years of extreme hard work and with the help of local government, Huaping Female High School (HFHS) was founded, the first free female high school in China.
Chinese Superstar’s Parents Refuse to Pay Debt
On October 17, Zhou Zhennan, leader of a popular Chinese idol boy band R1SE, posted “I really don’t know how to go on” on Weibo, where he has over 18 million followers. In the comments, he added “please stop calling and texting my parents, my family is my limit.” The post trended and people assumed it’s about “Sisheng,” fans who interfere with celebrities’ personal lives, which has been bothering many celebrities in China.
Hong Kong Slaps Goldman Sachs with Record Fine
The Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission fined Goldman Sachs (Asia) Co., Ltd. a record $350 million (HK$2.71 billion) on Thursday, saying they made “serious lapses and deficiencies in its management supervisory, risk, compliance and anti-money-laundering controls.”
Ant IPO Pushes Hong Kong Dollar Demand
Yesterday, Ant Group’s Hong Kong IPO has been approved by the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and the public offering has entered a countdown stage. The data shows that due to the enthusiasm of global investors, Ant’s IPO plan in Hong Kong stocks has pushed the demand for Hong Kong dollars to historical highs.
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