Year in focus: Chinese social media topics

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As we near the New Year, CGTN looks back at 2017 and presents the most eye-catching and consequential topics to ripple through Chinese social media and society. Please join us in pondering the past, and in looking toward the future together.

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“Roll up sleeves and work hard”

“Roll up sleeves and work hard” was famously said by President Xi Jinping at the beginning of 2017, and it encourages all Chinese people to work hard and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation under the leadership of the CPC.

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Lotte marts boycott

Lotte Group's land swap deal with the military facilitating the process of US Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system deployment in South Korea has sparked Chinese outrage in late February.

In response, Chinese residents launched a boycott to Lotte markets across the country.

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Ariel China

A CCTV documentary series launched in January which used drone technology to let viewers enjoy China’s amazing landscapes and scenery from a brand new perspective.

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Xiongan New Area

Xiongan New Area, covering three counties of Xiongxian, Rongcheng and Anxin, located about 100 kilometers southwest of Beijing, was established in April 2017 as a state-level new area in Hebei Province.

Its main function is to serve as a development hub for the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic triangle.

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China's "House of Cards"

The TV drama about anti-corruption called “In the Name of People” went viral in April. With plotlines inspired by real-life cases involving high-ranking government officials, it was considered by some viewers to be the Chinese version of "House of Cards."

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Ke Jie v.s. AlphaGo

Google DeepMind's artificial intelligence Go-playing program, AlphaGo, defeated Chinese Go-master Ke Jie 3-0 in a 3-game match during the Future of Go Summit in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province in May.

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Hangzhou arson

A mother and her three children died after their nanny intentionally set fire to the house in Hangzhou City, east China's Zhejiang Province in June.

The heart-broken father started an account on Weibo named "Wife and Children in Heaven" where he posted updates of the case and shared memories of his lost family.

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Chinese visiting scholar missing in the US

Zhang Yingying, a 26-year-old visiting scholar in the United States from China, went missing in June, only weeks after arriving at her campus in Illinois.

Police believe Zhang is dead but her body has not been located.

The suspect has been arrested and is facing federal death penalty if convicted.

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Movie “Wolf Warrior 2”

Patriotic action film "Wolf Warrior 2" has become the highest-grossing Chinese film of all time, raking in more than 5.6 billion yuan (about 835 million US dollars) in ticket sales.

It tells the story of Leng Feng, a former Chinese Special Forces officer living in Africa who rescues and protects civilians caught in the middle of a civil war.

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20 years of HKSAR

2017 marks 20 years since the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

Hong Kong will continue serving as a bridge between the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world under the Belt and Road Initiative.

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China’s hip-hop show

"Do you have freestyle?" has become a buzzword in China following the popular talent show "The Rap of China", the first Chinese reality show aimed at hip-hop rappers.

The show has put a spotlight on the formerly underground genre, and made thousands of new fans for artists nationwide.

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China’s C-section debate

A pregnant woman jumped off a hospital building and died in Yulin, northwest China's Shaanxi Province on August 30, because she was allegedly denied a C-section by her family.

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19th CPC National Congress

Xi Jinping was re-elected as the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) at the 19th National Congress of the CPC.

He declared that China is entering a new era of development.

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Tianjin futuristic style library

Tianjin Binhai Library became an Internet sensation due to its futuristic eye-shaped interior.

The five-story building, dubbed “The Eye of Binhai”, covers an area of 34,000 square meters and can hold up to 1.2 million books.

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Beijing child abuse scandal

A privately owned kindergarten in Beijing, RYB (Red Yellow Blue) Education became the center of nationwide outrage following reports of child abuse.

Authorities have cleared the school of sexual abuse allegations and vowed to step up supervision at kindergartens.

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Victoria’s Secret show

In Shanghai, Victoria’s Secret held its first annual fashion show in Asia on November 20.

Chinese model Xi Mengyao accidentally tripped on her long train and tumbled on the catwalk.

Some netizens praised her professionalism for carrying on while others called it a publicity stunt.

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Murder trial in Japan

24-year-old Chinese student Jiang Ge was stabbed to death in the corridor of her apartment by her roommate’s ex-boyfriend, Chen Shifeng, in Tokyo on November 3, 2016.

The murderer was sentenced to 20 years in prison in December 2017.