The 80-Year-Old Runway Model Reshaping China’s Views on Aging

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
Last year, at 79, Mr. Wang walked the runway for the first time, his physique at his age causing a national sensation

Drug Giant Faced a Reckoning as China Took Aim at Bribery

David Barboza
New York Times
China sought to make an example of GlaxoSmithKline in a case that involved bribery of doctors and investigators and ended with guilty pleas and record penalties

All 33 Miners Trapped in China Coal Mine Found Dead

South China Morning Post
The State Administration of Work Safety ordered an investigation into the blast, adding that “those responsible must be strictly punished”

Did a Story About Rape Take Down a Chinese TV Show?

Grace Tsoi
BBC
A popular TV show in China has been cancelled after featuring the mother and grandmother of a young woman who was repeatedly raped, but never reported it

China’s Forbidden Babies Still an Issue

John Sudworth
BBC
The One Child Policy may be gone, but the control and coercion remain

In China, It’s Always Greener on the Other Side

Matthew Kahn
Salon
China is making the difficult transition to cleaner energy, but their efforts will help mitigate climate change

HIV is Growing So Fast Among Chinese Youth that a University Sells Test Kits in Vending Machines

Echo Huang Yinyin
Quartz
The kits, which cost less than $5, are sold alongside snacks and drinks in the machines at China’s Southwest Petroleum University in Sichuan Province

Sinica Podcast

10.20.16

The Consequences of the One-Child Policy Will Be Felt for Generations

Kaiser Kuo, Jeremy Goldkorn & more from Sinica Podcast
The first day of 2016 marked the official end of China’s one-child policy, one of the most controversial and draconian approaches to population management in human history. The rules have not been abolished but modified, allowing all married Chinese...

In Push for G.M.O.s, China Battles Fears of 8-Legged Chickens

Amie Tsang and Cao Li
New York Times
China has ambitions to be a major player in genetically modified food, but first it needs to dispel images of poisoned seeds and contaminated fields

China Worked Its Way into the Debate on the Topic of Abortion

Echo Huang Yinyin
Quartz
Clinton's “Like they used to do in China” line might lead some to think the state no longer interferes with family planning--but it still does

Depth of Field

10.18.16

Over-Protective Mothers, E-cigarettes, Sports Hunting, and More

Ye Ming, Yan Cong & more from Yuanjin Photo
A photojournalist’s job is to capture the unique and the universal—to portray brief moments that tell individual stories, yet are instantly relatable to a wide audience. The delightful task of curating that type of Chinese photojournalism is the...

China Drops One-Child Policy, but ‘Exhausted’ Tiger Moms Say One is Plenty

Simon Denyer and Congcong Zhang
Washington Post
“No fines, no arrests. Go ahead and have a second child if you want one!” The problem is that many people don’t want a second child any more.

Risk of Vanishing: More than 1,300 Elderly Go Missing in China Every Day

Chen Mengwei
China Daily
Online app helps find 100 lost seniors as research shows growing dementia threat

Recognizing Boarding Schools’ Psychic Toll in China

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
The most deeply affected may be those born in the early decades after 1949, as the boarding system spread — those in their 50s and 60s who run the country today.

Forget Those 18 Olympic Medals, Most Chinese Can’t Swim

Hannah Gardner
USA Today
Drowning is now the #1 killer of Chinese children under the age of 14, topping traffic accidents and infectious disease

China’s Quest to Buy Up Global Supply of Donkeys Halted by African Nations

Katie Forster
Independent
Donkey hide is used to make Chinese remedy ejiao, believed to improve blood circulation

China’s Maternal Mortality Rate Rises 30% in First Half

Li Rongde and Liu Jiaying
Increase in women older than 35 getting pregnant after easing of the One-Child Policy may have led to spike in deaths

Chengguan, Widely Despised Officers in China, Find Refuge and a Kind Ear

Karoline Kan
New York Times
China’s first Psychological Crisis Center for Chengguan opened in Nanjing this week

How China’s Progress is Killing the Instant Noodle

Adam Minter
Sydney Morning Herald
As China's economy has slowed, so too has its appetite for instant noodles

China Grapples With HIV Cases Among Gay Men, but Stigma Runs Deep

Fanfan Wang
Wall Street Journal
Surge in infections worries health authorities and prompts soul-searching in a conservative society

China Tops WHO List for Deadly Outdoor Air Pollution

Adam Vaughan
Guardian
More than 1 million people died from dirty air in one year

Media

09.23.16

In China, Organic Food Is Gaining Ground

Wan Li, a young Beijing professional in her late 20s, is at her desk when her cell phone rings. She picks up. “North entrance?” She confirms. “I’ll be right out.” An electric delivery scooter has just pulled up to Wan’s office with her order of...

China Will Resume Imports of U.S. Beef After a Ban Long Seen as Political

Hannah Beech
Time
For an American industry that relies increasingly on global demand, the news is welcome

Gay Pride: China Activists Fight ‘Conversion Therapy’

Benjamin Haas
Hong Kong Free Press
Coming out was never going to be easy, but Yu never thought it would see him committed

Features

09.15.16

China’s Teflon Toxin Problem

Sharon Lerner from Intercept
Since the late 1970s, the chemical industry has been at the heart of China’s dazzling growth. And as regulations increase around the world, many toxic chemicals wind up coming to China just to die a slow death. Teflon—the slippery substance used in...

Depth of Field

09.12.16

African Migrants in Guangzhou, Forgetting, Family Planning’s Fate, and More...

Yan Cong, Ye Ming & more from Yuanjin Photo
Photographing the aftermath of catastrophic events is challenging—one that photographer Mu Li handles with creativity and grace looking back at the chemical explosion in Tianjin that damaged as many as 17,000 homes August 12, 2015. Another challenge...

China Military Says It Is Providing Medical Training for Syria

Ben Blanchard
Reuters
China has its own security concerns about violence in the region.

China’s Zika Fumigation Rules Raise Worries for U.S. Exporters

Costas Paris
Wall Street Journal
Companies worry that requirement to fumigate all containers could result in costs, delays.

Tesla Drops Autopilot Label From Chinese Site after Crash

Peter Campbell
Financial Times
The move comes only days after receiving complaints over the way it markets the technology to potential owners.

China Power Plant Blast Kills At Least 21

Michael Martina
Reuters
Deadly accidents are relatively common at industrial plants in China, and anger over lax standards is growing.

Reports

07.26.16

The Condom Quandary

Asia Catalyst
Sex work is illegal in China, and law enforcement practices that focus on condoms as evidence of prostitution are having a negative impact on HIV prevention among sex workers. When Lanlan, who runs a community-based organization (CBO) and support...

Viewpoint

07.26.16

Sex Workers and Condoms

Charmain Mohamed & Shen Tingting
China has long taken a punitive approach to sex work, but sex workers in China have recently experienced the harshest crackdown in a decade. The “strike hard” campaigns which began in Beijing and Dongguan in 2010 and 2014 respectively, ultimately...

Caixin Media

07.19.16

Killer Knotweed Exposes Dangers of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Amid rising public concerns about side-effects of traditional Chinese medicines, or TCM, following the death of a young woman who died of liver failure last year, a government-backed medical association has started compiling a database of substances...

China, Sweltering, Doles Out Subsidies for High Heat

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
The government appears to be trying to raise consciousness of the heat subsidies.

China Corn Shortages Loom Despite Bulging Silos

Lucy Hornby
Financial Times
Discontinuing a minimum price policy in March distorted global markets and packed expensive grain into state reserves.

China to Pillory, or Praise, Cities Based on Water Pollution

Edward Wong
New York Times
Water and soil pollution have received less attention than foul air but are just as hazardous, if not more so.

Features

07.01.16

The Rockets’ Red Glare

Kathleen McLaughlin & Noy Thrupkaew from Slate
The vast majority of the world’s fireworks come from China. And sometimes they explode early, with deadly consequences.

Culture

06.29.16

Using Free Sex to Expose Sexual Abuse in China

Jonathan Landreth
Nanfu Wang hoped that a woman called Ye Haiyan (“Hooligan Sparrow”), who had offered free sex on the Internet to draw attention to the plight of poor women selling their bodies to support their children, would lead her to the prostitutes she wanted...

Caixin Media

06.24.16

China Has a Plan to Clean Up Its Soil But No Way to Pay For It

The 231-clause, 13,000-Chinese character action plan for Soil Pollution Prevention and Control was released May 31 by the State Council, China’s cabinet, after undergoing some 50 draft revisions over the previous three years.The final version was...

China Still Harvesting Organs from Prisoners at a Massive Scale

James Griffiths
CNN
The report shows a discrepancy between official figures for the number of transplants carried out throughout the country.

China Vows to Replace ‘Poisonous’ Running Tracks at Schools

Owen Guo
New York Times
The Ministry of Education said it would inspect synthetic rubber tracks in schools across China during the summer break.

Depth of Field

05.31.16

Families, Weddings, and Beekeepers

Ye Ming, Yan Cong & more from Yuanjin Photo
This month’s Depth of Field column brings the stories of Chinese adoption; the marriage ceremony of Hu Mingliang and Sun Wenlin, a gay couple who filed the first civil rights marriage lawsuit to be accepted by a Chinese court (they lost); beekeepers...

China and India Burdened by Untreated Mental Disorders

Benedict Carey
New York Times
Less than 10 percent of people in India and China with a mental disorder received effective treatment.

China: No, We Are Not Sending Cans of Human Flesh to Africa

Adam Taylor
Washington Post
China's ambassador to Zambia released a statement, seeking to battle misinformation that was harming China's reputation in Africa.

Caixin Media

05.17.16

Government Forces Big Pharma to Swallow a Bitter Pill

China’s latest round of healthcare market controls could be a bitter pill for multinational pharmaceutical companies that now, after years of what some call easy profits, are adapting to a tougher business climate.The National Health and Family...

Huya Bridges China's Novel Drugs With Overseas Markets

Jane Ho
Forbes
When Mireille Gillings, founder and chairman of Huya Bioscience International first visited China in 2004, she saw a niche that could grow.

Chinese Police Uncover Huge Fake Jellyfish 'Scam'

Martin Yip
BBC
Police in eastern China have raided two fake jellyfish workshops, saying more than 10 tonnes is thought to have made its way into local food markets.

Green Space

05.04.16

Vaccine Scandal Rocks China

David O’Connor
China was rocked last month by another public health scandal, after Chinese police announced the discovery of a criminal organization selling millions of improperly stored vaccines in 24 provinces and municipalities. The affected vaccines have a...

Media

05.03.16

Scandal Highlights China’s Weak Environmental Enforcement

from chinadialogue
For many Chinese, the country’s soil pollution crisis has become increasingly acute in recent weeks after several hundred children fell ill from attending a school built close to a former fertilizer factory.Almost 500 students at the Changzhou...

China Investigates Baidu After Student’s Death From Cancer

Austin Ramzy
New York Times
Chinese regulators have begun an investigation into the Internet giant Baidu due to misleading medical advertising.

Depth of Field

04.29.16

April’s Best Chinese Photojournalism

Yan Cong, Ye Ming & more from Yuanjin Photo
Over the past few weeks, the publications Sina, Tencent, Caixin, China Youth Daily, and the publishing duo Sixth Tone/The Paper published photo stories on the intimate, the industrial, the private, and the political. Journalists Yan Cong and Ye Ming...

China Sees Childhood Obesity 'Explosion' in Rural Provinces

Sarah Whitten
CNBC
The study cites three major reasons for the uptick in childhood obesity: cultural background, poor diet and and a lack of physical activity.

China Has Begun Cracking Down on Parents Protesting Substandard Vaccines

Charlie Campbell
Time
Hundreds were allegedly detained for intending to join a demonstration in Beijing on Tuesday.

China's Toxic School: Officials Struggle to Contain Uproar over Sick Students

Tom Phillips
Guardian
Illnesses among pupils at Changzhou Foreign Languages School, with highly toxic illegal waste dumping blamed.

China to Punish Hundreds of Officials over Vaccine Scandal

BBC
The Chinese government has promised to punish 357 officials over a scandal involving the illegal sale of vaccines.

Scalped: At China's Creaking Hospitals, Illegal Ticket Touts Defy Crackdown

Adam Jourdan
Reuters
Those tickets will get a patient in front of a doctor in two days, compared with a wait that can be up to a fortnight.

China Says 80% of Tested Wells Had Water Too Polluted to Drink

Chris Buckley and Vanessa Piao
New York Times
The numbers upset people who have become increasingly sensitive about health threats from pollution.

Signing Up Organ Donors in China Can Be an Uphill Battle

Didi Kirsten Tatlow
New York Times
Relying on organs from prisoners is far from enough, and organ transplants are not covered by the state health insurance.