Many Chinese are venting their frustration at China’s slowing economy and weak stock markets in an unconventional place: the social media account of the US embassy in Beijing.
A post on Friday on protecting wild giraffes by the US embassy on Weibo (微博), a Chinese platform similar to X, has attracted 130,000 comments and 15,000 reposts as of yesterday, many of them unrelated to wildlife conservation.
“Could you spare us some missiles to bomb away the Shanghai Stock Exchange?” one user wrote in a repost of the article.
Photo: AFP
The Weibo account of the US embassy in China “has become the Wailing Wall of Chinese retail equity investors,” another user wrote.
The US embassy did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
While Weibo users can publish individual posts about the market and the economy, Chinese authorities regularly block what they view as “negative” online comments when they gain traction.
The commenting function on posts related to the economy or the markets on social media platforms can also be turned off or only show selected comments, restricting channels in which people can express their opinions.
China’s blue-chip CSI300 Index tumbled 6.3 percent last month, plumbing five-year lows after a raft of government support measures failed to prop up confidence dented by multiple economic headwinds, including a multi-year property slump, tepid domestic consumption and deflationary pressures.
Late last month, Chinese state media reported that China would take more “forceful” measures to support market confidence following a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強).
Chinese authorities have since ramped up efforts to calm investors, sending out positive messages that sometimes produce the opposite effect.
On Friday, the official People’s Daily published an article with the headline: “The entire country is filled with optimism.”
The headline was soon mocked on Chinese social media.
A Weibo user, in a repost of the US embassy’s giraffe protection article, wrote: “The entire giraffe community is filled with optimism.”
The Eurovision Song Contest has seen a surge in punter interest at the bookmakers, becoming a major betting event, experts said ahead of last night’s giant glamfest in Basel. “Eurovision has quietly become one of the biggest betting events of the year,” said Tomi Huttunen, senior manager of the Online Computer Finland (OCS) betting and casino platform. Betting sites have long been used to gauge which way voters might be leaning ahead of the world’s biggest televised live music event. However, bookmakers highlight a huge increase in engagement in recent years — and this year in particular. “We’ve already passed 2023’s total activity and
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) today announced that his company has selected "Beitou Shilin" in Taipei for its new Taiwan office, called Nvidia Constellation, putting an end to months of speculation. Industry sources have said that the tech giant has been eyeing the Beitou Shilin Science Park as the site of its new overseas headquarters, and speculated that the new headquarters would be built on two plots of land designated as "T17" and "T18," which span 3.89 hectares in the park. "I think it's time for us to reveal one of the largest products we've ever built," Huang said near the
China yesterday announced anti-dumping duties as high as 74.9 percent on imports of polyoxymethylene (POM) copolymers, a type of engineering plastic, from Taiwan, the US, the EU and Japan. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce’s findings conclude a probe launched in May last year, shortly after the US sharply increased tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, computer chips and other imports. POM copolymers can partially replace metals such as copper and zinc, and have various applications, including in auto parts, electronics and medical equipment, the Chinese ministry has said. In January, it said initial investigations had determined that dumping was taking place, and implemented preliminary
Intel Corp yesterday reinforced its determination to strengthen its partnerships with Taiwan’s ecosystem partners including original-electronic-manufacturing (OEM) companies such as Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and chipmaker United Microelectronics Corp (UMC, 聯電). “Tonight marks a new beginning. We renew our new partnership with Taiwan ecosystem,” Intel new chief executive officer Tan Lip-bu (陳立武) said at a dinner with representatives from the company’s local partners, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the US chip giant’s presence in Taiwan. Tan took the reins at Intel six weeks ago aiming to reform the chipmaker and revive its past glory. This is the first time Tan
RSS