• Will Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopters now power Pakistan air force?
• China-built satellite station a ‘shining’ example of support for Namibian space programme
• China’s new breed of academic paper mills promising a shortcut to grad school
• Chinese man, married, divorced 6 times, cons partners out of US$280,000, gets 13 years jail
• Senior Chinese official urges southern city to stamp out Chikungunya spread amid outbreak
• China investing US$350 million in Angolan agriculture in drive to boost food security
• How did the tomato create the potato? Chinese scientists trace tuber’s hybrid past
• China toughens import rules on Vietnamese durians after detecting health risks
• Scientists trace the spike of north China flooding to solar cycle activities
• Lost China diver survives 5 days underwater, lives on cave fish until rescued
• All-out thaw: can India and China unfreeze icy ties at last?
• US Treasury secretary says China meetings have ‘advanced our talks’
• Sex, lies and video games: the heated debate over sexism and misogyny in China

Will Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopters now power Pakistan air force?

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3320541/will-chinese-z-10me-attack-helicopters-now-power-pakistan-air-force?utm_source=rss_feed

Images circulating online suggest Pakistan’s military has received a shipment of Chinese-made advanced attack helicopters, a version of which has been deployed by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) near China’s mountainous border with India.

In the past week, photos and videos of the Z-10ME, the export version of the Chinese multirole attack helicopter, have appeared on Pakistani social media accounts.

On Tuesday, a social media user believed to be an active-duty member of the Pakistan Army uploaded a video clearly showing the helicopter airborne, apparently conducting field airport support missions from a military base.

The video was captioned: “First look at Pakistan’s Z-10ME attack helicopter armed with next-gen air-to-ground missiles.”

This followed a photo posted on Monday by another user showing a Z-10ME undergoing ground maintenance. The helicopter bore the words “Pakistan Army” and serial number “786-301” on its fuselage and tail.

The image marked the first credible evidence of the Z-10ME’s operational status within the Pakistan Army Aviation Corps.

While multiple videos and photos of the aircraft have circulated, it is unclear if they show the same Z-10ME or different helicopters of the same model.

Several news outlets reported in early July that Pakistan had deployed 40 Z-10ME attack helicopters into service, marking a significant upgrade of its aviation combat capability.

While specifics of the procurement and delivery timeline have not been disclosed, it is widely expected that the helicopters will officially debut during Pakistan’s Republic Day parade in Islamabad in March.

The revelation came just months after another Chinese aircraft operated by Pakistan’s military, the J-10C, made global headlines for shooting down Indian-operated French Rafale fighter jets when the South Asian neighbours clashed over Kashmir in May.

Senior military officials from China and Pakistan have interacted frequently since the conflict, including a meeting between defence ministers in June and talks between airforce chiefs in Islamabad last month.

Zhang Youxia, first-ranked vice-chairman of China’s Central Military Commission, met Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir in Beijing on July 25.

Zhang is the highest-ranking PLA official to engage with Pakistan’s military leadership since the latest Kashmir tensions. He highlighted military ties as a key pillar of China-Pakistan relations and urged strategic coordination, deeper cooperation, and joint efforts towards regional peace.

For nearly four decades, Pakistan’s primary helicopter force has consisted of AH-1F Cobra helicopters and a limited number of Russian-made Mi-35 Hinds, but the ageing aircraft are now viewed as inadequate for the needs of modern warfare.

According to an earlier report by state broadcaster CCTV, the PLA has deployed the Z-10 in the Tibet autonomous region, which borders India. The helicopter used in Tibet has an operational ceiling of around 6,000 metres (19,685 feet), and the export variant is also suitable for mountainous areas including Kashmir.

Comments on social media and military forums suggested the Z-10ME helicopters surpassed the standard PLA variants in engine power, protective systems, and electronic warfare capabilities.

The Z-10ME helicopters feature new WZ-9G turboshaft engines with improved power output, which can reportedly outperform India’s US-made Apache helicopters under similar conditions.

According to Chinese defence publications, the Z-10ME can reach speeds of up to 300km/h (186mph), with a combat radius ranging from 800 to 1,120km (497 to 696 miles), depending on fuel and weapon loads.

Its maximum take-off weight of roughly 7,200kg (15,873lbs) provides notable endurance and loiter time for both close air support and deep interdiction operations.

Its improved protective features include titanium and ceramic composite armour, significantly boosting pilot safety.

The high-definition image circulating on Monday suggested a suite of advanced avionics to improve situational awareness and missile defence capabilities. This includes an Active Electronically Scanned Array- or AESA-based missile approach warning system and directional infrared counter measures, making the helicopters even more sophisticated than the PLA’s own baseline Z-10s, according to defence analysts.

Most notably, the Z-10ME incorporates comprehensive electronic countermeasures, including radar, ultraviolet and laser warnings, with enhanced infrared directional interference systems – features previously unseen in Chinese helicopters.

Engine exhaust modifications and infrared suppressors further reduce the aircraft’s thermal signatures.

Additionally, the Z-10ME’s armament upgrades include six weapon stations capable of carrying CM-502KG precision strike missiles with a 25km range and a 23mm cannon system, significantly outperforming older AH-1F and T-129 helicopter models.

Meanwhile, India is also upgrading its fleet of combat helicopters.

On July 22, the Indian Army received its initial delivery of three AH-64E Apache Guardian helicopters from the United States. The latest variant of the attack helicopters are expected to be deployed on India’s western front bordering Pakistan.

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China-built satellite station a ‘shining’ example of support for Namibian space programme

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320537/china-built-satellite-station-shining-example-support-namibian-space-programme?utm_source=rss_feed

On the outskirts of the Namibian capital Windhoek, a Chinese-funded and built satellite data receiving ground station symbolises China’s growing cooperation in Africa’s nascent space industry.

The station was described by the Chinese embassy as “a shining example of China-Namibia cooperation” as they celebrated the 35th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

In a social media post on July 18 announcing the completion of the satellite facility ahead of time earlier this year, the embassy said it aimed to support Namibia in developing its space-related infrastructure and training technical talent, while enhancing its capacity in remote sensing satellite applications”.

The ground station will primarily receive, process and distribute remote sensing satellite data for various applications such as environmental monitoring, agriculture, disaster management and resource assessment in the southwestern African country.

China will also provide technical training to dozens of engineers to build up Namibia’s capacity to operate and use the station independently.

This ongoing cooperation highlights China’s growing influence in space, as it helps African nations to build their space capabilities through strategic partnerships.

The Windhoek project builds on long-standing China-Namibia cooperation, notably the Swakopmund tracking station established in 2001 and a key part of China’s extensive global space network.

The integrated system also includes other African locations like Malindi in Kenya on the east coast and could provide China with continuous telemetry, tracking and command capabilities for its expanding space missions.

While the Windhoek station highlights China’s growing role in African space activities, its strategic space partnership is more advanced in Egypt, where Beijing has made heavy investments in building the “Egypt Space City” near Cairo, aiming to make the northeastern African country a regional hub for satellite manufacturing.

This flagship project includes Africa’s first satellite assembly, integration and testing (AIT) centre. Built with Chinese grants and handed over early last year, the facility enables Egypt to domestically complete about 60 per cent of the satellite manufacturing process, making Cairo the first African city with such a capability.

Beijing has also provided grants for Egypt’s space programme, including US$72 million (518 million yuan) in 2019. In December 2023, China also launched Egypt’s MisrSat-2 remote sensing satellite, which was jointly designed and assembled at the AIT centre.

Overall, China holds bilateral agreements with over a dozen African countries for space technology, training and ground infrastructure.

For instance, Tunisia in North Africa hosts China’s first overseas BeiDou Satellite (BDS) navigation system station, which was partly funded by China and marked a move to challenge the dominance of America’s Global Positioning System, or GPS.

China has funded and launched several satellites in Africa, including Algeria’s Alcomsat-1 in 2017. In Nigeria, it was responsible for building and launching the NigComSat-1 communications satellite in 2007. When that satellite failed, China also built and launched its replacement, the NigComSat-1R, in 2011.

In the Horn of Africa, China has funded the development of two satellites and two ground stations in Ethiopia. The first satellite, ETRSS-1 or Ethiopian Remote Sensing Satellite-1, was launched in 2019, followed by the ET-SMART-RSS in 2020. Both are Earth observation satellites.

The ground infrastructure includes a multi-satellite ground receiving station at the Entoto Observatory and Research Centre in the capital Addis Ababa that is crucial for high-quality satellite data and now offers a “Ground Station as a Service” or GSaaS model for other nations.

While China is a leading partner, other international actors also contribute significantly to African space programmes.

The European Union, for instance, has long-standing cooperation through initiatives like GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) & Africa, and infrastructure such as the Italian-Kenyan Luigi Broglio Space Centre in Malindi.

The United States primarily provides Earth observation data applications via SERVIR, while Russia offers satellite construction and launch services and has recently proposed building spaceports in some African nations.

Frangton Chiyemura, an international development lecturer at The Open University in Britain, views China’s space cooperation with Africa as a strategic blend of genuine technological aid and geopolitical interest.

According to him, China’s capable space tech firms see Africa as a prime market, using “technological diplomacy” to offer satellite access and infrastructure that Western nations often restrict due to cost or military concerns.

This fosters goodwill, establishing China as a reliable partner, Chiyemura said.

“By providing space technology and services, China facilitates improved telecommunications, agricultural monitoring and resource mapping across Africa,” he explained, noting this boosted African development while creating markets for Chinese services.

He added that establishing ground stations and partnerships strengthened China’s continental presence for both commercial and security ends.

“Ultimately, Chinese space technology offers both opportunities and potential risks. It remains the responsibility of involved African countries to leverage the opportunities while minimising associated risks.”

African countries are increasingly partnering with China for space technology, citing fewer political conditions and export restrictions compared to Western alternatives.

“Cost and accessibility are equally important factors,” Chiyemura said, adding that “Chinese space solutions are more affordable and include technology transfer agreements that build local capacity,” as seen in Nigeria and Ethiopia.

He also highlighted China’s “package deal” approach, combining space technology with broader infrastructure investments through programmes like the Belt and Road Initiative.

Bulelani Jili, an assistant professor at Georgetown University in Washington, echoed this sentiment, saying that China’s engagement in Africa’s burgeoning space sector mirrored its broader economic and diplomatic goals.

China’s financial backing – from satellite launches to ground stations and navigation services – positioned it as a key development partner, while also expanding Chinese corporate influence, he said.

“This public and corporate reciprocal interplay positions China as the foremost actor shaping Africa’s digital and infrastructural futures.”

For African governments, “Chinese space technologies offer an accessible and affordable entry into digital infrastructure and capacity building, areas often neglected by Western partners,” Jili said.

Beyond cost, “there is also the sense that China is more willing to frame these partnerships around mutual development, without the overt conditionalities that often accompany Western aid”.

China’s new breed of academic paper mills promising a shortcut to grad school

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3320484/chinas-new-breed-academic-paper-mills-promising-shortcut-grad-school?utm_source=rss_feed

The agency’s advertisement promised just the kind of “cutting-edge” expertise that Chris Wong was looking for.

The 21-year-old arts student was aiming to get into a graduate programme overseas after completing his studies in Australia, and the “commercial research” firm could give him a ticket in.

For nearly 20,000 yuan (US$2,800), the Beijing-based agency would guide Wong through a three-month independent online course of study in his field to produce a research paper that would be published in a leading journal.

The paper would help him stand out from the ever-growing crowd competing for limited places in graduate programmes in China and abroad.

“I thought it would be better to have some extra academic knowledge and a solid paper as a sample for future applications,” he said.

The agency Wong signed up with is part of a rapidly expanding educational consulting sector that has cropped up to help ambitious students fine-tune their applications for graduate programmes or overseas schools.

With a record 12.22 million university graduates entering the already depressed labour market this year, more young people are delaying the job hunt in the hopes of improving their prospects later through further studies.

Competition for these graduate programmes in China is intense and most applicants must sit an exam to be considered. Others, though, can get in through a points system that gives credit to applicants with a published paper to their name.

The commercial research firms help students achieve this goal.

For a fee, the agencies will take clients through a course of independent study or a series of lectures and tutorials on a subject.

In these programmes, participants are required to work individually or in small groups to choose their own essay topics and write papers.

The company then handles the final step of submitting the papers to academic journals. In general, the higher the fee, the better the journal.

Often, the training will be overseen by a lecturer from a top university and will include an academic reference for the student to boost their chances of graduate admission.

There is no official data on just how many people are using these companies but in Shenzhen, an employee at one agency said that her team handled about 80 clients at any one time.

“We secure orders virtually every day year-round. During peak summer periods, we take on up to five new clients a day,” said the employee, who would only be identified by her surname Qiu.

Qiu said her agency specialised in one-to-one tutoring to help students research, write papers and publish in top journals.

“We offer one-to-one paid research, which means the main lecturer will handle all your work, including lecture content and essay refinement, to ensure you will gain substantive outcomes from the experience,” she said.

“We require students to submit their own first draft to us. Regardless of whether this draft is good or not, our team will refine it until it meets publication standards. Fees are based on the target journal’s tier and publication difficulty.”

The basic one-to-one service costs around 11,000 yuan and includes 10 hours of tutoring, with a guarantee that the revised paper will be published in a top-cited international journal.

“If you have the budget, we can place your work in Q1 journals,” she added, referring to the top 25 per cent of academic publications.

“In that case, the tutoring price is more than 50,000 yuan per paper for humanities subjects, while STEM fields cost much more.”

The company Wong used also required clients to do the initial draft of the paper but he did not get that far.

He said that after attending just one lecture, he realised that the course content was “shallow and simplistic” and did not touch upon the students’ research topics.

“The lecturer just read out generalised theories from PowerPoint slides. I really wasn’t satisfied with this teaching quality. Given how these lectures are taught and the [minimal] workload involved, you can already tell how subpar the final paper would be,” he said.

Wong withdrew from the three-month programme in the third week and received a partial refund.

“I refuse to waste my time, or allow this paper to become an academic liability in my applications,” he said.

Xiong Bingqi, director of the 21st Century Education Research Institute, a Beijing-based think tank, said the boom in such commercial research firms reflected society’s results-driven thinking.

“Very few undergraduates possess genuine research ability. Their participation stems from the desire to get direct postgraduate admission, rather than authentic passion for academics,” Xiong said.

“Those education agencies cater to this demand by running research as a business, which further distorts its original purpose.”

Xiong said another driver of the industry was excessive parental involvement in university applications.

“Some parents are wealthy enough to fund these purchases for their children, which is irrational and absurd.”

Chinese man, married, divorced 6 times, cons partners out of US$280,000, gets 13 years jail

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3320160/chinese-man-married-divorced-6-times-cons-partners-out-us280000-gets-13-years-jail?utm_source=rss_feed

A man in China has been jailed for 13 years for cheating more than 20 people, including five of his divorced wives, out of a total of two million yuan (US$280,000).

The 39-year-old man, known as Liu, got married and divorced between 2009 and 2024 with six different women.

The last five of them, and their families, were swindled out of money by him, state media CCTV reported.

A court in Ziyang, Sichuan province, southwestern China, recently sentenced Liu to jail for fraud.

Each of the marriages he embarked on lasted for less than two years, the court heard.

Liu was accused of setting up the public persona of a rich businessman who showed consideration for women.

He often shared photographs of luxury cars he drove on social media; the vehicles were actually rented.

However, after women started dating him, Liu used various excuses to borrow money from them, such as paying his employees’ salaries, expanding his toy store and buying a house.

Once he faked a medical document to show his mother was ill to persuade his girlfriend to lend him money.

When his victims asked him to repay the money, Liu simply said he needed more time.

“He is good at comforting girls and he has a good temperament. That is why I was attracted to him although I knew he had vorced,” o one of his ex-wives told the police.

“The first impression Liu left for me was that he was wealthy and honest. I did not expect that he was a fraudster,” another ex-wife said, adding: “I regret lending him more than 400,000 yuan (US$56,000).”

In 2021, Liu was classified by a court as a defaulter after his then-girlfriend sued him for not returning her more than 320,000 yuan (US$45,000). But he still refused to repay her the money.

“Since then, Liu continued to borrow plenty of money from many people. He never returned money. His actions obviously had the purpose of illegal possession, so he has constituted the crime of fraud,” a police officer was quoted as saying.

Liu’s racket was exposed at the end of 2023 when his sixth wife, nicknamed Xiaolu, reported him to the police after he defaulted on her and her family a combined 600,000 yuan (US$84,000).

They registered their marriage in June 2023, only two weeks after they got to know each other.

After they wed, Liu tried every means, including using a knife to hurt himself, to cajole Xiaolu into giving him money.

Liu persuaded Xiaolu to mortgage her own flat, but he took away all the money borrowed from the bank.

She followed his suggestion of quitting her decent job since he said he needed a “reliable” person to manage his to-be-expanded store.

Due to the fact that Liu was blacklisted by the banks, he told Xiaolu to borrow money from online platforms.

He even borrowed money from her parents and her grandmother by telling them not to reveal this to Xiaolu because he did not want his pregnant wife to worry.

“I was cheated by him and have lost my flat and my job and became pregnant. I am under a big amount of debt because of him. I really would like to commit suicide,” Xiaolu told officers.

Liu confessed his crime and told investigators: “I want to seek revenge on women. They are not trustworthy and too materialistic,” he said.

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Senior Chinese official urges southern city to stamp out Chikungunya spread amid outbreak

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3320531/senior-chinese-official-urges-southern-city-stamp-out-chikungunya-spread-amid-outbreak?utm_source=rss_feed

A senior Chinese official has visited the epicentre of the country’s Chikungunya fever outbreak, as the number of cases of the mosquito-borne virus nears 5,000.

Chinese Vice-Premier Liu Guozhong visited the southern city of Foshan in Guangdong province, urging the city to “strictly implement port health quarantine measures”, according to state news agency Xinhua on Friday.

During his trip to Guangdong, Liu told authorities to “improve prevention and control measures”, “effectively eliminate mosquitoes” and “cut off epidemic spread channels”.

Foshan, a manufacturing hub of 10 million residents, accounted for 2,882 cases, or about 60 per cent of 4,824 reported cases in Guangdong as of July 26. There have been no fatalities.

Outside Guangdong, Macau has also reported two cases, both of whom had previously travelled to Foshan. Hong Kong has not reported any cases since the outbreak.

This is China’s worst outbreak of the disease in decades, and Foshan authorities issued notices earlier this week offering nucleic acid PCR tests in several neighbourhoods.

According to Chinese news site Hongxing News, some residents in the Foshan township of Lecong were notified about free screening for Chikungunya fever during the week.

The report quoted community doctors as saying those who “are asymptomatic or have not received notifications” did not need to be tested for the time being.

It was not clear if the tests were compulsory.

Chikungunya fever is a viral disease transmitted by Aedes mosquitoes that causes sudden high fever, severe joint pain, rash and fatigue. It cannot be contracted through direct contact with another person.

While rarely fatal, the illness can lead to debilitating symptoms lasting weeks. Outbreaks are often linked to tropical and subtropical regions with dense mosquito populations.

There are vaccines for preventing Chikungunya virus infection, but none are licensed for use in China.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday issued a level 2 travel notice – the second level in a four-tier system – for visitors to China to practise enhanced precautions because of the rising number of Chikungunya cases.

China also issued new treatment guidelines for the disease earlier this week, calling on medical staff to avoid indiscriminate use of antimicrobial medications.

The World Health Organization recommends using antipyretics and analgesics such as paracetamol to treat fever and joint pain.

China investing US$350 million in Angolan agriculture in drive to boost food security

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3320483/china-investing-us350-million-angolan-agriculture-drive-boost-food-security?utm_source=rss_feed

China is investing hundreds of millions of US dollars to develop soy bean and grain farms in Angola as it seeks to reduce its reliance on the United States for supplies and improve food security.

Last month, two giant state-owned Chinese firms signed deals worth US$350 million to develop tens of thousands of hectares of land in the southern African country.

One of the companies, SinoHydro Group, a hydropower and civil engineering firm, will invest more than US$100 million in return for a 25-year, tax-free land concession covering 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) to build a large-scale grain base across six eastern provinces, according to the Angolan agriculture ministry.

About 60 per cent of the output will be shipped directly to China, and the company is also planning to establish a seed research and testing centre to improve yields and attract more Chinese companies to invest in the country’s agribusiness.

The other deal involves the conglomerate Citic, which has promised to invest US$250 million over the next five years to develop 100,000 hectares of soybean and corn production.

Citic said land clearing was already under way on 3,000 hectares in Cuanza Norte province and 5,000 hectares in Malanje province. It expects to scale up operations to cover 10,000 to 20,000 hectares next year, aiming to produce eight tonnes of corn and five tonnes of soybeans per hectare.

China’s actions in Angola highlight its strategic shift towards Africa for food security, especially given recent trade tensions with the US.

Gaurav Kochar, an India-based agri-commodities specialist with Gaurav Brothers, a manufacturer and supplier of agro products, said such moves were also designed to expand China’s geopolitical influence and counter Western “de-risking” efforts.

“By securing long-term, tax-free land deals, China reduces its dependence on the US and Brazil for key crops like soy, while also gaining a strategic foothold in Africa,” Kochar said.

For a long time China’s relationship with Angola was defined by oil-for-infrastructure deals.

But since President João Lourenço came to power in 2017, Angola has been seeking to diversify its oil-dependent economy and reduce food imports, which currently cover around half its food needs.

Angola’s agriculture ministry said the deals signed with the Chinese firms were intended to “diversify the Angolan economy”, adding that the government was “strongly committed to promoting large-scale cereal and grain production projects to ensure food security, combat hunger and poverty, increase production and productivity, create jobs, and reduce imports”.

The oil-for-infrastructure “Angola model” may also be at risk in future as China seeks to move away from fossil fuel-reliant infrastructure and mass production, according to Lauren Johnston, a senior research fellow at the AustChina Institute, a Melbourne-based think tank.

“The Angolan government might not optimally distribute or invest its fuel export returns, meaning the populace does not benefit as much as it might,” she added.

Johnston also noted the political implications of relying on US agricultural supplies, adding: “Consequently, China is seeking to diversify its sources of grains for both human and animal consumption.”

She noted that China had also promised to help African nations alleviate poverty by helping to develop agriculture.

Currently it imports corn and soybeans from South Africa, with Ethiopia and Benin also supplying the latter.

But Africa remains a tiny provider of China’s soybeans, which are a major source of animal feed. For example, Ethiopia only exported 29,408 tonnes to the country in 2024, according to official Chinese data.

This compares with more than 22 million tonnes coming from the US and almost 75 million tonnes from Brazil in the same year – with those two countries accounting for almost 90 per cent of China’s total imports.

China is also making large-scale agricultural investments in Tanzania to grow soybeans, including a deal for China Chaoliang Group to develop a 32,000-hectare site, with Yuan Longping High-Tech Agriculture Company also securing land.

How did the tomato create the potato? Chinese scientists trace tuber’s hybrid past

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3320528/how-did-tomato-create-potato-chinese-scientists-trace-tubers-hybrid-past?utm_source=rss_feed

They could not look less alike in the supermarket aisle, but a Chinese-led research team has uncovered an ancient link that makes a forerunner of the tomato a genetic parent of the potato.

By examining genomes and data sets from cultivated and wild potato species, the scientists traced the tuberous plant’s evolution back about nine million years to a moment when a tomato ancestor created a hybrid with a group of potato-like – but tuberless – plants called etuberosum. They published their findings in the journal Cell on Thursday.

All varieties of potato have underground tubers, but until now it has not been clear how they developed them and diversified.

The researchers concluded that hybridisation was a key driver of the development of tubers – the part of the potato that makes it a staple crop today.

“We not only show that the cultivated potato and its 107 wild relatives are derived from an ancient hybrid speciation event, but also that tuber formation itself, a key innovative trait, has a hybrid ancestry,” the team said in the paper.

The potato is the third most widely consumed food crop globally, after rice and wheat, and is eaten by over 1 billion people, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Zhang Zhiyang, the study’s first author and a researcher at the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen under the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, told state-run China Science Daily that the question of the origin of the potatoes had not been resolved.

“Wild potatoes are a huge treasure trove of resources, but little research has been done on them,” Zhang was quoted as saying.

The study was led by Huang Sanwen, also a researcher at the Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, in collaboration with scientists from Canada, Germany, the United States and Britain.

In 2022, an accidental discovery by Zhang in the field of potato gene research inspired his mentor, Huang, who thought it might be evidence of the potato’s hybrid origin, according to the report.

The team conducted what they described as a “DNA paternity test” on all potato varieties and concluded that tomato plants accounted for about 40 per cent of their genes and the potato-like etuberosum made up the rest.

“There are 107 wild potato species, and collecting samples is extremely challenging. Our work has yielded the most comprehensive collection of wild potato genomic data to date,” Zhang was quoted as saying.

Much of the potato’s success comes from its tubers.

Around the time the hybrid emerged, the Andes Mountains in South America were rising rapidly, resulting in environmental changes.

Tubers enable plants to store water and starch, and according to the researchers, this helps potatoes adapt better to dramatic environmental changes.

Tubers also helped potatoes reproduce without seeds or pollination, Zhang was quoted as saying.

“The highest diversity of wild species of [potato] is found in high-elevation, cold-adapted montane habitats in central Mexico and the central Andes,” the team said in their paper.

“Species of [potato] have a much wider geographical distribution and tend to occupy a broader range of environmental conditions than species of either tomato or etuberosum.”

Loren Rieseberg, the study’s co-corresponding author and a professor of botany and biodiversity at the University of British Columbia in Canada, told China Science Daily that the study was “the most exciting and compelling report to date” on the significance of ancient hybridisation for plant diversity.

The newspaper quoted James Mallet, a professor of evolutionary biology at Harvard University in the United States, as saying that the study was “pioneering”.

“It demonstrates how hybridisation events can trigger the emergence of new organs and even lead to the emergence of new species,” Mallet said.

Lead author Huang told China Science Daily that the work would provide new theoretical insights for the genetic breeding of future hybrid potatoes. He said tomatoes might not only be part of the potato’s past, but also its future.

China toughens import rules on Vietnamese durians after detecting health risks

https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3320379/china-toughens-import-rules-vietnamese-durians-after-detecting-health-risks?utm_source=rss_feed

Chinese authorities have tightened oversight of imported Vietnamese durians this year after finding “excessive levels” of two potentially harmful substances in the popular, high-value fruit.

The General Administration of Customs of China now requires enhanced pre-export safety checks and compliance testing before shipments leave the source country, with “qualified” test reports to be attached to durians, a customs official told the Post, requesting anonymity due to internal rules.

She said the administration had intensified testing for the organic compound alkaline yellow and the metal cadmium in Vietnamese durians, after discovering concentrations that “seriously endangered the health of domestic consumers” at the start of 2025.

“In order to effectively prevent food safety risks, the General Administration of Customs immediately took action.”

Under the stricter rules, Vietnamese durians are subject to “batch by batch” testing – with any unqualified fruits returned or destroyed. Exporters are in turn suspended from shipping the fruit to China, she said.

Fresh durian shipments from Vietnam fell by about 45 per cent year-on-year from January to June in value terms, customs data showed. Vietnam’s shipments totalled US$611.5 million over the first half of 2025.

The pungent spiky fruit fetches large sums in China – the world’s biggest importer of the delicacy – where a 6kg (13.2lbs) specimen sells for as much as 200 yuan (US$29). Durians are especially popular with middle-class families as well as dessert makers and givers of gifts for occasions such as weddings.

Vietnam has vied with Thailand, China’s historic top source of imported fresh durians, for a slice of the market since mid-2022. China also allows Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines to ship fresh durians.

Vietnamese media outlets had noted a rise in rejected durian shipments earlier in the year. Analysts believe some growers in the Southeast Asian country lack nearby fruit testing facilities and may still be getting used to complying with Chinese rules.

China’s “tightened” customs inspections are “slowing down distribution and affecting turnover” of durians from Vietnam among other places, said Lim Chin Khee, an adviser to the Durian Academy, a Malaysian institution that trains local growers.

Scientists trace the spike of north China flooding to solar cycle activities

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3320375/scientists-trace-spike-north-china-flooding-solar-cycle-activities?utm_source=rss_feed

A study led by scientists in China has found a link between the sun’s 11-year cycle and summer rain in the country, identifying why drought conditions in the south and flooding in the north intensify during high solar years.

The team studied precipitation patterns during the East Asian summer monsoon – particularly the intense mei yu or “plum rain” period – and found that the solar cycle influenced summer precipitation by modulating climate patterns and shifting the rain belt north.

“The summer precipitation pattern on a decadal timescale … can be attributed to the solar precipitation regime,” the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Climate on July 15.

The researchers said their study identified the influence of changes in the solar magnetic cycle over decades on China’s summer pattern of “south drought and north flooding”.

The findings of the researchers – from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Meteorological Administration, University of Science and Technology of China, and the Geomar Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel in Germany – could be used to improve climate prediction and forecasting, particularly on longer-term scales.

“It is well known that the positioning of the monsoon rain belt significantly influences the distribution of summer droughts and floods in China, making precipitation patterns a crucial focus for climate predictions during flood seasons,” the researchers said.

The publication of the study comes as Beijing is once again grappling with torrential rain and floods, which have killed at least 44 people in the Chinese capital, according to state media on Thursday.

The northern and western regions of China have been on high alert for rain, flash floods and landslides since June, while other regions of the country have experienced drought conditions, affecting crops.

The pattern of a wetter north and drier south is common for China in the summer monsoonal months, with changes in the sun’s energy directly affecting the strength and timing of those monsoons. However, the researchers said that a connection between solar cycles and shifts in precipitation patterns at the decade scale had previously not been clear.

The sun naturally undergoes cycles as it transitions between low and high magnetic activity, with magnetic activity hitting a peak during the solar maximum.

Researchers measure the sun’s activity by tracking the number and size of sunspots, which are cooler regions on the sun’s surface caused by intense magnetic activity that appear as dark spots.

Records of the cyclical sun’s activity began in the 1750s, and the sun is now on its 25th recorded cycle, which started in December 2019.

The team assessed the impact of the 11-year solar cycle on precipitation patterns during the East Asian plum rain, which usually occurs from early June to mid-July, from 1958 to 2020.

The team used sunspot data, along with daily data on the ozone, wind, temperature and precipitation from 756 meteorological stations in China to conduct their study.

They found that the sun’s influence on summer precipitation patterns in China was tied to the East Asia/Pacific teleconnection, a climate pattern that links sea surface temperatures in the central Pacific with precipitation patterns in East Asia.

During high solar years, the heating of stratospheric ozone in response to solar radiation causes a warm anomaly in the tropical and subtropical troposphere, which strengthens the teleconnection and shifts the rain belt northward.

The teleconnection then amplifies solar signals in the East Asia summer monsoon region, “fostering droughts in southern China and flooding in northern China during high solar years”, the team said.

“We propose a mechanism by which the sun influences the precipitation regime through the East Asia/Pacific teleconnection, thereby enhancing our understanding of the decadal variability of monsoon precipitation.”

In October, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced that the sun had entered the most active phase of its cycle, though an exact peak can only be determined months or even years after solar activity starts to decline.

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Lost China diver survives 5 days underwater, lives on cave fish until rescued

https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3320126/lost-china-diver-survives-5-days-underwater-lives-cave-fish-until-rescued?utm_source=rss_feed

A Chinese diver miraculously survived five days and nights trapped in an underwater cave, leaving netizens in disbelief and shock.

The incident unfolded on July 19, when Wang, a diving enthusiast in his 40s from Furong Town in Xiangxi, Hunan province, central China, went missing just five minutes into a river dive with a friend.

The river runs several dozen metres deep, with the entrance to an intricate cave system located around nine metres below the surface.

Police immediately launched a search operation and sought help from the Xiangxi Shuguang Rescue Team and special police forces from the city of Baise in the Guangxi autonomous region of southern China.

A cave diving team from Baise’s special forces carried out two deep dives into the cave, but initial searches proved unsuccessful.

During the second dive, rescuers heard what sounded like someone knocking on rocks.

They immediately instructed the surface team to shut off the boat engines to improve listening conditions, but the sound did not return.

The divers then reached a depth of about 130 metres but found nothing.

However, on their way back up, around the 100-metre mark, they made a breakthrough.

Tian Yanglin, the captain of the Xiangxi Shuguang Rescue Team, told the Xiaoxiang Morning Herald that when the cave divers approached, Wang did knock on the rocks but received no response.

Wang even saw them swim past beneath him, heading towards the deeper parts of the cave.

As his oxygen supply level dropped to just four per cent, Wang jumped into the water from the air pocket when he saw the divers returning and waved a flashlight he had kept charged.

This led to his discovery and rescue.

“That moment was his last chance,” Tian said.

Wang managed to survive by finding refuge in a hollow section of the cave, an air pocket that provided breathable space despite being deep underwater.

He later recounted that after accidentally entering the cave, he completely lost track of time and survived by eating raw fish.

Remarkably, Wang was reported to be in good condition and even walked to the ambulance without needing a stretcher.

His first words to his rescuers were: “Do you have a cigarette?”

Wang’s story sparked a widespread online discussion, with many people expressing awe and disbelief.

One person said: “Nine metres underwater, pitch black, survived for five days. Unbelievable. A true miracle. His mind did not collapse. What incredible willpower!”

“To survive five days and still be in good condition, he is not just lucky, he is superhuman,” said another.

While a third asked: “It must have been pitch black in that cave. I am really wondering, how did he manage to catch fish?”

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All-out thaw: can India and China unfreeze icy ties at last?

https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3320481/all-out-thaw-can-india-and-china-unfreeze-icy-ties-last?utm_source=rss_feed

When Indian pilgrims set foot in Tibet again this summer, their arrival heralded a new beginning for India and China, five years after a deadly Himalayan clash plunged the two bitter rivals into a diplomatic deep freeze.

But with the machinery of engagement whirring once more amid flaring global trade wars and shifting strategic alliances, hopes have sprung anew that Asia’s two largest economies might finally move past the years of suspicion and silence.

Late last month, New Delhi resumed issuing visas to Chinese citizens across a number of categories in a gesture welcomed by Beijing as a “positive move”. The decision came just weeks after China began allowing Indian pilgrims to return to the Tibet autonomous region, ending a pause imposed during the pandemic amid heightened border tensions.

Direct flights between the two countries, suspended since the Covid era, are also expected to resume imminently. These initial measures could pave the way for deeper cooperation, experts say, injecting fresh dynamism into a relationship long held hostage by mistrust.

“If they can get their act together, they have more common things to work upon,” said Yashwant Deshmukh, independent political analyst and founder of Indian pollster C-Voter. “There is great potential, but they really need to work on the trust deficit.”

Deshmukh warned that the “400-pound gorilla in the room” – their disputed Himalayan border – remained unresolved. “It is something they need to sit together and just get over with,” he said, noting that for centuries, the two civilisations had largely coexisted peacefully.

India and China share a vast, undemarcated frontier snaking through the Himalayas. Since a brief but bitter war in 1962, an unofficial Line of Actual Control has served as an uneasy boundary.

Flare-ups have erupted periodically, most notably in June 2020 in the Galwan Valley, when at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed, resulting in a nadir in modern relations.

Since then, both sides have groped for a way forward. A breakthrough came late last year, when Beijing and Delhi agreed to a phased troop disengagement and new patrolling protocols. Indian National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Beijing last December signalled an intent to reset ties. That momentum gained pace last month, when Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar visited Beijing for talks, yielding promises of more people-to-people exchanges.

The diplomatic thaw is now feeding economic hopes. Last weekend, Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman noted “some kind of beginning” in a revival of business relations. “How far it will go is something we will have to wait and see,” she said.

“We need more access and we need to have a lot more interaction, and possibly open some windows” Sitharaman said. “And that’s not just from our side – even the Chinese have been approaching us.”

Anticipation is building ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s expected attendance at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Tianjin from August 31, his first visit to China since 2018.

Analysts suggest that shifting global headwinds are nudging India and China closer together, even as the United States turns up the heat. In a move that sent shock waves through Delhi, Washington imposed a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods on Wednesday, citing “significant trade barriers” and India’s continued purchase of Russian oil and arms.

The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry expressed “disappointment” but voiced hope that the tariffs would be temporary. China, meanwhile, has also been holding talks with US trade officials, as the August 12 expiration of a mutual pause on tariffs fast approaches.

“Both India and China share common concerns emanating from American protectionist policies – something that impacts their national interest,” Srikumar Menon, a former Indian ambassador and retired career diplomat, told This Week in Asia.

Trump’s tariff stance could dramatically change trade equations in South Asia, according to Biswajit Dhar, an economics professor at the Council for Social Development in Delhi. He said that the US president offering to jointly develop oil reserves with Pakistan – followed by a suggestion that Islamabad might “some day” sell oil to India – had created “a new dynamic”.

“I think he has pushed India and China closer together,” Dhar said, arguing that US protectionism was a common concern for both Delhi and Beijing.

Delhi has repeatedly rejected Trump’s claims that he brokered a ceasefire between it and Islamabad following their brief armed conflict in May, with officials saying that India had not responded to pressure from anyone.

The US president has further ruffled feathers in Delhi with his demands for greater market access. “The demands he has been making for access to India’s agriculture sector is a strict no for the country,” Dhar said, highlighting a key irritant in any future trade deal with Washington.

Despite both being economic powerhouses, the trade relationship between the two Asian giants remains lopsided. India’s bilateral trade with China reached US$127.7 billion in the 2024–25 financial year, making China its second-largest trading partner after the US.

But India’s trade deficit with its neighbour to the north also hit a record US$99.2 billion, as Indian exports to China fell and imports surged.

“Though bilateral trade is heavily skewed in favour of China, with Indian exports to China valued at only 10 per cent of Chinese imports to India, there is potential for Indian companies to leverage the inherent demand in China’s import market,” said Menon, the former ambassador.

“The two sides could focus on non-strategic areas, mutually leveraging the obvious economic benefits emanating from a stronger and more structured B2B [business-to-business] engagement.”

India’s consumer market is projected to grow by 46 per cent to US$4.3 trillion by 2030, according to the government’s India Brand Equity Foundation.

China is seen as a cost-effective supplier for India’s burgeoning middle class, providing everything from electronics and EV batteries to industrial machinery. In turn, China’s appetite for Indian rice, spices, and oilseeds is also rising.

Trade experts caution, however, that India’s ballooning deficit must be addressed if relations are to deepen. “The concern on the Indian side is the imbalance,” said economist Amitendu Palit, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Institute of South Asian Studies. “For most regional economies, China is a net exporter and India is not an exception.”

The issue for Indian exporters who want to sell to China is often non-tariff barriers such as inspection protocols and language hurdles. “When you speak of issues of quality standards, these are not very easy to overcome, especially as most of the instructions are produced in Mandarin and many Indian exporters are not able to understand that,” Palit said.

Typical Indian exports such as leather, gems, jewellery and refined petroleum might not be easy to sell to China, he said, because it has its own production and also imports from Southeast Asia. Yet Palit noted that there was scope for synergy in services, pairing Chinese strengths in transport and travel with India’s digital and computing expertise.

Last year’s annual economic survey by the Indian government signalled a rethink, suggesting that the country’s firms could source cheaper imports by partnering with Chinese suppliers that were already well integrated into global supply chains.

But not all Chinese investment is viewed as benign. Some investments pose “the risk of security breaches”, Palit said, citing the exclusion of Huawei from India’s 5G auctions and restrictions on Chinese EV makers.

“The problem in this rationale is that all Chinese investments are not so-called clean investments because there are some investments that can have security implications,” he said.

India’s EV sector faces its own uncertainties, meanwhile, as China tightens export restrictions on rare earth minerals essential for battery production. If rapprochement gathers pace, some of these hurdles could ease. Analysts say areas such as renewables and related tech are ripe for collaboration, provided security concerns are addressed.

“There is a constant tussle in the domestic Indian industry, where Indian solar manufacturers want more tariffs on Chinese products whereas solar users want more liberal imports from China,” Palit said. “If you want more and more solar panels to be easily available, then you must accept that there is not enough domestic capacity and you must import.”

The same is true for other sectors. A productivity-linked incentive scheme launched by the Indian government five years ago has buoyed smartphone production, but the country remains reliant on Chinese imports for many components. “Maybe, over the long term, [import] dependencies might reduce. But reducing dependency in sectors such as fertilisers, drugs and machinery does not happen overnight,” Palit said. “You have to import from somewhere and China is the most competitive.”

Other analysts have called for concrete action that goes beyond symbolic gestures like the recent efforts to facilitate cross-border movement of people.

“While they [the easing of border restrictions] offer diplomatic warmth and facilitate people-to-people contact, their long-term value depends on resolving deeper strategic mistrust,” said Nanda Kishor M.S., a senior adviser at the Indic Researchers Forum think tank and head of politics and international studies at Pondicherry University.

The recent India-Pakistan clashes only further muddied the waters. “The deployment of Chinese-made weaponry by Pakistan in its conflict with India underscores Beijing’s strategic alignment, complicating prospects for normalising India-China trade. Economic engagement cannot be delinked from national security concerns,” Kishor said.

Meanwhile, China’s construction of a mega dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, which becomes the Brahmaputra upon reaching India, has stoked anxieties in Delhi about water security.

Still, both countries saw value in amplifying the Global South’s voice on issues such as climate justice and equitable development, Kishor said – though bilateral tensions and regional rivalries had hampered their cooperation at global forums.

In India, some of the harsher anti-China rhetoric that had been common in the immediate aftermath of the Galwan Valley clash had now died down, Dhar told This Week in Asia. Public discourse, once dominated by calls for boycotts, had gradually softened.

“With the diplomatic ties between the two countries almost coming to normal, this could be an opportunity,” he said.

Dominic Rohner, an economics professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute and co-director of its Hoffmann Centre for Global Sustainability, said that the motivation for rapprochement was obvious.

“There are clear incentives to increase bilateral ties, yielding both economic and political benefits,” he said. “While it is difficult to forecast what will happen, it is in these countries’ interest to foster trade ties.”

“In the current unstable environment building an extensive and robust network of trade ties is in many countries’ interests,” said Rohner, whose book The Peace Formula argues that trade can be a powerful bulwark against conflict. “The opportunity cost of attacking some country is much higher when it is a major trade partner.”

Singapore-based researcher Palit agreed. “This relationship will take time to change,” he said. “[But] there is an economic rationale to this.”

US Treasury secretary says China meetings have ‘advanced our talks’

https://www.scmp.com/news/us/economy-trade-business/article/3320515/us-treasury-secretary-says-meetings-chinese-have-advanced-our-talks?utm_source=rss_feed

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that meetings with his Chinese counterparts this week “advanced our talks”, but stopped short of confirming that US President Donald Trump approved the consensus that Beijing claimed they had reached.

“This week’s negotiations in Stockholm have advanced our talks with China, and I believe that we have the makings of a deal that will benefit both of our great nations,” Bessent wrote on X.

“Thanks to the powerful bond between @POTUS and President Xi, I am optimistic about the path forward,” he added, without specifying where consensus stands following talks that ended on Tuesday.

Since then, the US side is seen taking its time to confirm any new agreement reached with China, its third-largest trading partner, after neighbouring Mexico and Canada.

China’s vice-minister of commerce, Li Chenggang, who also took part in the talks, said before leaving Stockholm on Tuesday that a pause on new tariff increases – in place since May – would be extended, but neither Trump nor Bessent has made similar announcements.

The Trump administration has instead delivered mixed messages.

On Wednesday, Trump said “we are moving along with China”. A day later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said “I don’t think so” when asked if a tariff pause was still on the table.

Leavitt added during her regular press briefing that the “current trade programme we have going right now with China, as it stands, will decrease America’s trade deficit by [US]$5 billion this year”.

Referring the question to Bessent, she added: “So we are moving in the right direction when it comes to China, and Secretary Bessent and [US Trade Representative] Ambassador [Jamieson] Greer continue to be in direct communication with our Chinese counterparts … But I’ll let [Bessent] speak on that, because he’s leading these negotiations.”

For now, Trump has left China out of his latest tariff modifications targeting almost all other trading partners, unveiled on the eve of the August 1 expiration of the 90-day suspension.

Xin Qiang, an international studies professor at Fudan University in Shanghai, said both sides still had time to work on the specifics of an agreement, calling for patience.

“Both Beijing and Washington still have some time to agree on major issues before August 12,” he said, referring to the date the tariff pause will expire.

Sex, lies and video games: the heated debate over sexism and misogyny in China

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3320433/sex-lies-and-video-games-heated-debate-over-sexism-and-misogyny-china?utm_source=rss_feed

A young woman expelled from university for having sex with a foreigner. A man jailed for raping his fiancée after paying her the bride price. And a video game portraying women as gold diggers.

These are among the cases fuelling heated debate, and outrage, on Chinese social media in recent months over sexism, misogyny and gender stereotypes.

The discussion started in April when a court in Datong, Shanxi province upheld the guilty verdict and three-year prison sentence of a man who had raped his fiancée the day after they got engaged. The case centred on whether the bride price he paid of 100,000 yuan (US$13,900) and a gold ring was considered marital consent and a tacit agreement for sex.

In June, there was anger over stereotyping and sexism after a Chinese online game originally called Revenge on Gold Diggers shot to the top of gaming platforms on day one. Players of the game are male characters being pursued by manipulative women who only want one thing: their money. The backlash prompted the game’s creators to change the name to Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator the day after its release.

It did not end there. The same month, media reported that a dowdy, 38-year-old cross-dresser had lured hundreds of young men into having sex, which he secretly filmed before selling the videos online. Days later, a 21-year-old Chinese student was expelled from a university in Dalian, Liaoning province for having a one-night stand with a Ukrainian gamer attending an event in Shanghai. The man had posted intimate photos and videos of the student, one of his fans, on social media, calling her “easy”.

In the case of the cross-dresser the discussions initially focused on lurid details of the videos. But that shifted to a debate over why the men involved, including the cross-dresser, had their identities protected by the authorities yet the student, a woman, was publicly shamed by the university.

According to experts, the intense discussions around sexism and misogyny prompted by these cases are part of a broader phenomenon of “gender antagonism” that has emerged in China over the past few years. And the echo chamber effect on social media has only amplified these tensions.

They say frustrations have grown along with socioeconomic changes in China. Traditional notions about the roles of men and women are being challenged, there is more financial pressure, and the gender imbalance has made it harder to find a spouse.

Mi Huibo, a marriage and relationship counsellor who works in multiple cities across mainland China, said there were big social changes at play.

“The social status of women is rising because of education levels and income and they have become more independent,” said Mi, who has also advised the government on marriage counselling guidelines.

“The traditional male mindset has been challenged,” he added.

Mi said today’s generation of Chinese women might be looking for a partner with financial security, but they also wanted to be in a relationship with someone who held a similar world-view and who had the same values.

Those expectations, along with a severe gender imbalance, have made it far more difficult to find a partner.

“Back 15 years ago, finding a spouse was not that hard,” Mi said. “But now it has become a lot more difficult.”

The gender imbalance is a consequence of the one-child policy that was introduced in 1979 and ended in 2015. During those decades, a cultural preference for sons skewed China’s sex ratio at birth. There were 17.5 million more men than women aged between 20 and 40 at the last census in 2020.

Yuan Shiyu, a researcher with the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at King’s College London, said young women in China were particularly frustrated because they were still discriminated against in the job market despite having high levels of education.

She said many men still wanted wives who could take on the traditional role of raising the family.

“Discrimination [against women] is still really common – job interviews can include questions about marriage or whether you’re planning to have kids, and some job ads literally say they prefer men, even in public sector roles,” Yuan said.

“On the other hand, for men, the cost of housing and raising kids keeps going up, and they may now even hope their future wives to be nurturing, supportive, doing all the housework so as they can better fulfill their breadwinner roles in these contexts.”

Thomas Whyke, an associate professor who specialises in gender and media at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China, echoed that view.

“The rapid socioeconomic changes in China have created acute anxieties about traditional gender privileges and roles,” he said.

These gender tensions are not unique to China. A survey conducted earlier this year by King’s College London across 30 countries – not including China – found the gender divide was more acute among Gen Z than earlier generations.

Heejung Chung, who led the study and is a professor and director of King’s Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, said the gender divide had widened among Gen Z because they grew up in a time when feminists were pushing more for equality and as women were better educated, with more going to university.

“So for young men, it seems like women are doing better, yet they are told women are in a weaker position and we need to do more for women,” Chung said.

“This type of sentiment is monetised or used by politicians to gain votes. Young people [both men and women] these days are in worse positions compared to previous generations, and there is a lot of discontent.”

Chung said gender antagonism was particularly serious in South Korea because of deep-rooted ideas about gender.

“Women [in South Korea] are outraged by current-day society,” she said. “Young men are also furious as they think women blame men for everything, but also that men are in a much worse position than their fathers and grandfathers, and many politicians and social media influencers have made them think it is because women have gained a lot more – perhaps too much.”

In China, the government has targeted feminist activists in the past decade, fearing the infiltration of Western ideology in Chinese society, as part of a broader crackdown.

State media has also accused some women comedians and online influencers of inflaming gender antagonism as the government worries about declining marriage and birth rates and a looming demographic crisis.

Despite that, experts say the feminist awakening in China continues.

“Over time, women seem to be generating increasingly vibrant insights, expanding their critique to encompass a broader range of social issues,” said Angela Xiao Wu, an associate professor in media, culture and communication at New York University.

“By contrast, men’s responses remain relatively stable and predictable.”

Experts say social media has played a role in amplifying the anger among men and women in China, with platforms sending content to users and creating different “realities” around gender.

“Both men and women feel ripped off because they’re operating within fundamentally different constructed realities shaped by platform-specific echo chambers,” according to Whyke.

That reaction was seen after a 21-year-old gamer in Chongqing known Pang Mao, or Fat Cat, took his own life following a break-up in April last year.

His sister amassed millions of followers on social media after she claimed her brother had been dumped after he transferred 510,000 yuan to his girlfriend, who was later doxxed.

A police investigation found the man had not fallen victim to a romance scam, but that did little to quell the discussion online that reinforced the stereotype that many women enter into relationships for material gain – that they are laonu, or gold diggers.

“On male-dominated [Q&A platform] Zhihu, users frame Fat Cat as a victim of manipulation, using terms like ‘PUA’ [pickup artist] and describing women as financially motivated,” Whyke said.

“Meanwhile, on female-oriented Xiaohongshu [also known as the RedNote social media platform] users defend women’s rights to financial compensation in relationships while characterising men like Fat Cat as emotionally invested.”

Whyke said social media influencers had played a role in turning personal tragedies into forums for discussing issues around gender.

“In the Fat Cat incident, his suicide after transferring 510,000 yuan to his girlfriend became a focal point for broader gender-related discussions,” he said.

Polarised narratives become the “frameworks for understanding relationships” on social media, according to Whyke.

He said the rape case in Datong followed a similar pattern, “where algorithmic amplification of emotionally charged content creates concentrated discussions that reflect existing gender perspectives”.

He said while gender antagonism also existed in other countries, there were multiple and often opposing forces at play in China.

“China’s situation is characterised by what I call the ‘double bind’ of commercial dynamics and regulatory frameworks,” he said.

“There are tensions between traditional Confucian values and feminist perspectives, with some viewing them as conflicting frameworks while simultaneously, platform economies monetise user engagement around gender topics.”

He said online influencers had incentives to express strong viewpoints since engagement directly translated to financial gain.

“The media environment in China also means that gender-related discussions can develop rapidly through platform-specific communities without the diversity of voices that might be present in different media systems,” Whyke added.

He said there was also an emphasis in China on what could be gained financially and emotionally from a relationship – an assessment described by social exchange theory, which suggests people weigh the costs and benefits of interaction.

“While Western contexts often focus on rights and representation, Chinese gender-related discussions frequently centre on economic considerations and quantifiable ‘emotional value’ in relationships,” Whyke said.

He has also observed strategic and financial considerations in the discussion of relationships, such as RedNote users sharing dating strategies like accepting only 80 per cent of any money offered.

That goes back to the idea of the gold digger, a phenomenon 22-year-old student Crystal Jin believes has much to do with insecurity, and has been driven by Chinese society.

Jin, who is studying architecture at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, has been playing the online game Emotional Anti-Fraud Simulator.

“Gold diggers are not born wrongdoers,” she said. “They are seeking a sense of security in the way the traditional patriarchal society has told them to.”

Mi, the marriage and relationship counsellor, agreed that the emphasis on financial gain stemmed from insecurity, especially in Chinese society where people lacked spiritual and emotional support.

“Why do people talk about whether their spouse’s name should be added to the marital home?” he said. “These are signs of insecurity.”

Additional reporting by Carl Zhang