Xu Jiayin Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
Xu Jiayin, former chairman of Evergrande Group, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his two sons, Xu Zhijian and Xu Tenghe, were also sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment.
Xu Jiayin, former chairman of Evergrande Group, was sentenced to life imprisonment, and his two sons, Xu Zhijian and Xu Tenghe, were also sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment.
A video appeared on the overseas social media platform X showing a post by "Donghu Youli," an account under Hubei Daily, criticizing the idea of "closing the door to do construction" and praising Deng Xiaoping's reform and opening up.
The X account "Luo Xiang" posted a claim that the Ctrip boss tried to flee and was caught.
The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection officially announced that Yang Xinsheng, Deputy Mayor of Heze City and Party Secretary of Yun County, is under investigation.
A 30-year-old man surnamed Yang fell on hard times financially after losing his job in Shenzhen, nearly fasting for 20 days and developing acute kidney failure; he later suffered damage to his eyesight due to an acute nervous system illness caused by a lack of vitamin B1. The incident sparked widespread discussion.
On the day after its listing, Unitree Robotics' shares fell 18.70%, wiping out 280 billion yuan in market capitalization and drawing market attention.
A Chinese man attempted to exit China through Shanghai Pudong Airport with his 8-year-old son. Because the son holds a US passport, the airline stopped them on the grounds that he "wouldn't be allowed into the US," claiming the son had no right to leave China.
The Brisbane Magistrates Court announced that Zhu Guoxin, a Growatt executive who attempted to bribe Australian officials, has been handed over to the Australian immigration department for immediate deportation to China after receiving a suspended sentence, and is banned from business entry for life.
On August 20, the High Court of Hong Kong ruled that Hong Kong pro-democracy activists Lee Cheuk-yan and Chow Hang-tung are guilty of inciting subversion of state power.
Without any advance notice, the U.S. Treasury suddenly announced that it would raise the liquidity buyback cap for long-end old bonds with maturities of 10 to 30 years from $2 billion per operation to $4 billion.
Within 24 hours of Bessent announcing an open-ended buyback, the 30-year US Treasury yield erased the previous day's decline and reclaimed 5.25%, while the Dow dropped 700 points intraday — the market slapping the Treasury Department's buyback policy in the face at the speed of light.
Outside Vanke Cloud City in Xiamen, chengguan (urban management officers) and police drove off street vendors, injuring 3 people who were sent to hospital. The incident began when people with connections fenced off a stretch of the street and converted it into a paid night market; the vendors were cleared out after refusing to enter because the fees were too high.
On August 20, He Xiong, director of the Henan Provincial Government General Office, the deputy mayor of Heze in Shandong, and the former president of the Agricultural Bank of China's Jilin Branch were placed on a list for handling.
An English-language blogger spoke with Spanish tourists at Xi'an Xyangyang International Airport. The tourists said that people here rarely smile, look serious, and are different from other Asian countries.
A brief report released by the USCC states that since the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China has become an indispensable partner of Russia, with the two sides cooperating deeply in trade, energy and defense, and that China-Russia relations have become a core pillar of authoritarian coordination.
The Japanese government and the South Korean military confirmed that North Korea test-fired several suspected missiles toward the waters east of the Korean Peninsula on Thursday, with one reportedly landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi held talks with Indian Defense Minister Singh in New Delhi, where the two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on maritime security cooperation.
The United States and South Korea announced that the end date of their annual joint military exercises will be moved up from August 27 to this Friday (August 21), with some activities changed to simulated drills.
Trump has delayed the 50% tariff on Canadian goods originally scheduled to take effect on August 19 due to an agreement reached between the U.S. and Canada. The new deadline is Saturday, Eastern Time.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that North Korea fired more than ten short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area toward the East Sea after 5 p.m. on the 20th, with flight distances reaching over 300 kilometers.
The U.S. Department of State formally determined on August 20 that Burmese-American citizen Min Htin is wrongfully detained in China and called for his immediate release.
Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council released a poll on August 20 showing that over 80% of Taiwanese people disapprove of 'one country, two systems,' and 70% support maintaining the status quo and rejecting unification.
On the very same day the Treasury Department announced an increase in debt buybacks, the St. Louis Fed President publicly stated that how the Treasury borrows and manages money is its own business, while setting interest rates is the responsibility of the Fed and does not bow to Treasury pressure, highlighting an open clash between the central bank and the Treasury.
A woman claiming to be a BYD employee protested outside the BYD factory in Chengdu, burning joss paper and calling for the abolition of the 12-hour night shift system.
A post appeared on X claiming that Trip.com boss Liang Jianzhang was caught while crossing the border into Vietnam via a back road from Pingxiang, Guangxi, with his entire family. After verification, this news is false.
The U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission issued a fact sheet assessing China's support for Russia and the development of the China-Russia partnership.
On August 20, 2026, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court publicly pronounced the first-instance verdict on the Evergrande Group and Xu Jiayin and others. Xu Jiayin received a combined sentence of life imprisonment for multiple crimes and had all his personal property confiscated.
Shangguan Zhengyi assisted police (Public Security) in arresting human traffickers and surrogacy agency personnel, and rescued a surrogate infant who was about to be sold.
Shanghai has introduced the “Eight Shanghai Measures,” a package of optimized real estate control policies; Hu Liren believes this is a trap to drain the savings of ordinary people and plunge them deep into mortgage debt.
The U.S. Department of State has officially determined that Min Zin, a Burmese-American citizen and founder of the Institute for Strategy and Policy-Myanmar, is being illegally detained in Yunnan, China, and has called on the Chinese side to release him immediately.
On August 20, the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection officially announced that Yang Xinsheng, deputy mayor of Heze City in Shandong, is under investigation and scrutiny; some commentators believe he belongs to Peng Liyuan's Shandong faction.
On August 20, 2026, Zhu Guoxin, an executive at Shenzhen Growatt, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Magistrates Court to bribing an Australian official with 20,000 AUD. He argued that gift-giving is a common practice in China. He was sentenced to a 12-month suspended prison term and deportation proceedings were initiated.
On the evening of August 20, 2026, the official Guangdong Fire Department account was flooded with comments by a large number of netizens during a livestream of a military-training fire safety promotion event, demanding answers on responsibility for minors purchasing petrol and committing arson and animal cruelty in public places.
On August 20, 2026, a technical developer released an analysis report pointing out that Alibaba's cross-border e-commerce platform, AliExpress, silently invokes WebAudio via security scripts in its webpage backend to generate audio signals, which are combined with various hardware parameters to create deep device fingerprints.
Around August 20, rumors circulated online that Ctrip's Liang Jianzhang had fled, which were likewise linked to the new entry-exit regulations taking effect on September 15, but the matter eventually fizzled out.
On August 20, a self-described teacher, Zhang Zhengjie, issued an open letter accusing Zhou Yingchun, Party secretary and principal of Chongqing No. 8 Middle School, of having police take him away from his home in the middle of the night on charges of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, after he reported violations such as illegal admissions, the setting up of key classes, and hyping up college admission rates; the police later terminated the investigation on the grounds that no illegal acts had been found. The letter also relays students' experiences of having only a two-week summer vacation and frequent weekly tests, and calls for an end to illegal make-up classes.
On August 20, 2026, the Shandong Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision announced that Yang Xinsheng, Deputy Mayor of Heze City and Secretary of the Yuncheng County Party Committee, is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law, and is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation.
On August 20, 2026, several construction workers in Xi'an, Shaanxi reported that the Xi'an branch of Hebei Construction Group had maliciously withheld workers' wages for as long as 6 years. The workers used megaphones in the company's office area to protest and demand their unpaid wages.
On August 20, 2026, inside the command office of the Chengdu Hub Section 2 works of the Sichuan-Tibet Railway by China Railway No.2 Engineering Group in Chengdu, Sichuan, large numbers of migrant workers gathered with their families, sitting and even lying on the ground in protest, demanding that their unpaid wages be settled.
On August 20, 2026, workers at Shanghai Huate Enterprise Group Co., Ltd. collectively signed a joint complaint letter and went on strike for three consecutive days to protest the company withholding five months' worth of wages.
On August 20, 2026, a vicious knife attack occurred on the street in Yulin, Guangxi. A woman was suddenly stabbed by a strange man with a knife while scanning a QR code to unlock a shared bike with her child. The suspect has been taken into police custody.
On August 20, 2026, multiple staff members exposed that the crew of Season 8 of Tencent Video's variety show The Exciting Offer worked more than 18 hours of overtime, withheld overtime pay, and threatened and blamed employees who defended their rights.
On August 20, 2026, security guards at the Marriott hotel in Yalong Bay, Sanya, Hainan stopped a food delivery rider wearing a work uniform from passing through public areas. The person changed into casual clothes the next day and passed through without any problem, prompting questions about occupational discrimination.