Guizhou

How China’s smaller private firms may be paying the price for huge local government debts

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How China’s smaller private firms may be paying the price for huge local government debts

Private firms in China are in a “precarious” situation as debt-ridden local governments increasingly seek to boost earnings through harsh criminal law enforcement, lawyers and observers have warned. The latest such case, involving a businessman based in eastern Shandong province, has sparked fresh worries despite Beijing’s repeated pledges to foster a supportive legal environment for … Read more

Are China’s lauded anti-poverty triumphs at risk of vanishing?

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Are China’s lauded anti-poverty triumphs at risk of vanishing?

In Zhongwei, a city in northwest China’s Ningxia Hui autonomous region, fighting poverty seems to be a never-ending battle. While the country as a whole has made tremendous gains in living standards, in July, the city’s Shapotou district announced that 28 more individuals had been added to a poverty relapse watch list. The officials who … Read more

Yangshuo boutique hotel to spearhead new Chinese heritage hospitality brand Aurua

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Yangshuo boutique hotel to spearhead new Chinese heritage hospitality brand Aurua

Since the severing of ties with the Alila brand in June 2020, the old mill has been run independently by Chan and Yang, but they have now earmarked it as the launch property of a heritage-focused hospitality brand built around “nature, terroir, presence and aura” – Aurua. Danny T.T. Chan (centre) by the Sugar House … Read more

Opinion | How chilli peppers in China were a substitute for salt before becoming widely popular

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Opinion | How chilli peppers in China were a substitute for salt before becoming widely popular

Recently, Denmark recalled three flavours of instant noodles for being too spicy. The country’s food and health authorities had assessed the levels of capsaicin in a single packet of Buldak instant noodles, made by South Korean company Samyang, to be “so high that they pose a risk of the consumer developing acute poisoning”, especially children, … Read more

China’s health system anti-corruption drive nets another senior official in Guizhou

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China’s health system anti-corruption drive nets another senior official in Guizhou

A senior health official in the southern Chinese province of Guizhou has been placed under investigation as China continued a crackdown on medical sector corruption. Yang Hui, 51, the party chief of the Guizhou provincial health commission, is being probed for “serious violations of discipline and laws”, according to the provincial commission for discipline inspection … Read more

‘Emotional power’: China’s Covid wounds reopened in tense, divisive ‘An Unfinished Film’

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‘Emotional power’: China’s Covid wounds reopened in tense, divisive ‘An Unfinished Film’

Much of the film focuses on the mobile phone screen of a film crew member character. On the phone, the audience sees actual news reports and short videos that were posted during the Covid-19 pandemic in China between 2020 and 2022 – most of which were later removed by censors. Nationalist online commenters have argued … Read more

Officials in China’s Guizhou face corruption investigation weeks after launch of probe into arrest of businesswoman

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Officials in China’s Guizhou face corruption investigation weeks after launch of probe into arrest of businesswoman

Two officials from southern China’s Guizhou province are being investigated for corruption weeks after the province started looking into the arrest of a businesswoman who tried to recoup millions in back payments for projects carried out under the duo’s watch. Hou Junran, the deputy Communist Party secretary of the political and legal affairs committee of … Read more

China’s corruption busters shame city boss for wasting US$21 billion on vanity projects that failed and ran up heavy debts

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China’s corruption busters shame city boss for wasting US billion on vanity projects that failed and ran up heavy debts

He was placed under investigation in March 2023 and stripped of his party membership and official positions in November 2023 by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI), China’s top corruption agency. The commission, the country’s top anti-corruption body, attacked him for “showing off” with overambitious projects that wasted public money and caused severe environmental … Read more