The Shanghai Sports Bureau announced that Liu Xiang chose to seek employment independently, after which the official Weibo account enabled the comment selection feature, triggering mockery from netizens over the official's inconsistent words and actions.
Liu Xiang posted that he received a 494,000 yuan buyout fee on September 1 and officially bid farewell to the system, and will donate the entire amount of over 980,000 yuan in salary earned over the 11 years since his retirement to the China Charity Federation for disaster relief in Tibet.
Liu Xiang responded to the Shanghai Sports Bureau in the comments section, questioning its claim of "acting in accordance with regulations," and saying "It's been ten years, and suddenly now you want to 'reassign' me," implying that the long-retained status of his personnel relations was tied to commercial interests.
Liu Xiang posted on Weibo asking netizens for help, saying the Shanghai Sports Bureau required him to choose between a "buyout of his years of service" and "becoming a coach," and questioning why the placement issue had been delayed for ten years. The Shanghai Sports Bureau responded that it would arrange proper placement.
On August 26, 2026, Olympic champion Liu Xiang posted on Weibo, publicly questioning the Shanghai Sports Bureau's recent requirement that he choose between transitioning to a coach or having his personnel relationship bought out, and questioning the advertising fee sharing system of that year.
After Liu Xiang retired in April 2015, the Shanghai Sports Bureau kept his personnel relations on file for a long time; it was not until September 2026 that he chose to become self-employed, and the procedures were basically completed on September 7.