News of Chinese man from village marrying a good looking girl from Ukraine went viral, sparked a heated discussion online not long ago. For a long time, Chinese men seem as less humorous, strong and poetic, with a compared to young men from other countries.

© Image | weibo

However, do you know that Chinese men are becoming increasingly popular among foreign women?

In recent years of cross-border marriage, although Chinese women marrying foreign men is the mainstream, but the article of Chinese men marrying foreign women appeared on social media more and more often.

So, let’s check what the real consequences of these things.

1

Ukraine

This is a country with a serious female surplus, and full of beautiful ladies because of the Slavic national lineage. However, Ukraine is not wealthy and is far from the developed countries. Therefore, Ukrainian women want to marry a relatively developed country abroad. In the end, many people are eager to marry a man from close and relatively wealthy China.

Ulove, which matches high-quality Chinese men to young, good-looking women in Ukraine, has more than 1m followers on Weibo. Mei’s story is now well known by his followers in China.

© Image | weibo

2

Russia

Plenty of Russian women apparently admire and love the qualities of Chinese men and East Asian men in general. In the eyes of Russian women, Chinese men have many advantages. For example, unlike Russian men who are addicted to alcohol, they take more care of home. 

In Russia, there were fewer men and more women during WWⅡ，many girls who were not willing to marry the akin guys who were sottish and not enterprising. So, the Chinese guys who not far from their country naturally became the “Prince of the White Horse” in the eyes of the Russian Far East girl.

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“It takes great strength for such an honest man as him to confess that he loves me,” said Anna, a Russian lady who married a Chinese man in 2007, whom she first met in 2004. She thinks that the most attractive quality of Chinese men in the sense of responsibility.

In recent years, rich Chinese businessmen are paying thousands of pounds to go on ‘wife tours’ in Siberia in search of fair-skinned, blue-eyed brides due to a shortage of women in their home country.

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3

South Korea and Japan

The ethnic customs of China and South Korea and Japan are relatively similar, and the distance between countries is relatively close. In addition, compared with Korean men, Chinese men are more respectful of women, so it is not surprising that Korean women love to marry Chinese men.

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Comparing with the customs of a wife who still has her husband’s surname and wife’s resignation after marriage in many places in Japan and South Korea, Chinese men are not so masculine in the eyes of independent women.

But the things may not seem like the above. Someone raised a question “Are Chinese men popular in Japanese and Korean women’s social circles?” in Quora. One of the answers says that”young Chinese guys are outperforming their Japanese counterparts when it comes to campus romance”.

© Image | GOOGLE

According to statistics of oversea dating websites, Chinese men are in growing demand. They are received as honest, outgoing, responsible, caring, and respectful toward women.  Some foreign women who already married Chinese men also regarded the pairing as a life-changing opportunity.

Chinese state media has been praising the benefits of foreign women marrying Chinese men as the country faces a bachelor crisis.

Anyway, the premise of marriage is love, is about two people loving each other, and nationality is not very important in fact.

How much did you buy last year via Alipay? And where did you spend all that money? China’s leading online payment app Alipay delivered a brief 2018 annual account statement to each of its users recently, prompting discussions online. 

Most netizens were shocked by the amount they spent and were amazed when they saw the details of their purchasing behavior over the year. 

China’s leading online payment app Alipay delivered a brief 2018 annual account statement to each of its users on January 8. The statement is a digital bill summing up the user’s spending and consuming habits in 2018 on: 

• Living necessities, 

• Transportation, 

• Entertainment, 

• Food and other occasions.

#Alipay released an annual account statement# and has received 11.91 million views and over 4,000 comments on Weibo. /Screenshot of Webio

Unsurprisingly, it soon topped Weibo’s trending issues of the day, and prompt discussions online. 

“It is part of my New Year celebration ritual.” Weibo user @Xing_AmazingGraze answered why Chinese youngsters are keen on reviewing the statement.

To find out the reason why Alipay annual account statements get more sensational every year, CGTN talked to economist Liu Zhiqin, senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University.

He stated people’s reactions to the statements are a natural result of the rapid development of e-commerce in society, and a revolution in traditional consumption concepts is consequently needed.

How to check your annual bill?

 

Step 1

Log in Alipay, enter in search bar “账单”.

Step 2

Click on the banner of “2018支付宝年账单”(2018 Alipay Annual Bill) to view it.

The statement is not enough to 

conclude one’s financial situation

“What comes into your mind when you read the statement? 

What was outside your expectation? 

And where did you spend the most in the past year?” 

 

A great deal of Weibo users participated, and their reactions can be categorized into three types: 

• I did not know I earned that much; 

• I cannot remember where I spent all that money; 

• It seems I had a better life than I thought. 

 

“I feel like I am actually very rich after viewing the statement,” @Qiukeli said. 

“I was shocked. How did I go through so much money?!” @ulllme expressed the same thoughts.

 

Some of the others are surprised to see their purchasing behavior patterns in 2018.

 

“I spend over 50,000 yuan only on food!” Weibo user @DOMINIC commented. And he is not the only one who spent most of his money on food.

 

“I did not know I had ordered so many times on food-delivery platforms…” Weibo user @Fanglijuan_ said.

Liu said, youngsters do not need to panic or be shocked by their statements because “the statements are not enough to summarize a person’s financial situation”.

Liu Zhiqin, senior fellow at the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies of Renmin University of China.

“However, it gives a clear indicator about your consuming habits, and the lifestyle you prefer,” said Liu.

Anxiety behind the statements? Not really

 

The real reason is that e-commerce erupted the traditional payment way, which has radically changed people’s consumption patterns.

A customer pays via AI facial recognition system in Wenzhou, eastern China’s Zhejiang Province. 

“We use Alipay during every single small occasion. I spend 5 yuan here, 5 yuan there, and even 0.7 yuan can be paid through my phone. It is too convenient so it causes a unconscious purchasing behavior from time to time,” Liu said.

As people are free to go without their wallets, the chance to buy out-of-plan goods has increased. It is not a lack of financial understanding, but the purchasing behavior that has changed silently.

Citizens can buy tube tickets via e-payment platforms in Shenzhen, southern China’s Guangdong Province, since December 2018.

The use of e-payment has given people less psychological burden in their daily lives. Consumers are less willing to pay if they have to count bank notes one by one. 

Is consuming a bad thing? 

We need to enjoy the process!

Traditionally, Chinese people used to see the amount of treasures and property to measure the happiness of life. On the contrary, consumption and spending used to be taken as a bad thing. 

Youngsters inherited the concept, while the concept does not comply with the fast growing era of e-commerce. 

© Image | GOOGLE

“When people spend money, they are pursuing a better life, which is not wrong,” said Liu.

This also answers the question why one person did not have the guts to open the statement as they said on Weibo. 

“They regret after they spend. This is a result of overspending. But there is no need to be worried of. We should learn to enjoy the process when we spend and realize we are purchasing services and happiness,” said Liu. “Consumption is not a losing and painful process, as long as you know you need it and you can afford it.”

The application of mobile payment platforms have radically changed Chinese people’s daily consumption behavior has happened silently and unconsciously. But our consumption value is far lagging behind technology.

It is time to embrace the new digital era, not just by updating your equipment, but by also updating your mind. Enjoy consumption, otherwise you cannot enjoy an easier life brought in by new technology.

If you use social media, you’ve probably noticed a trend across Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter of people posting their then-and-now profile pictures, mostly from 10 years ago and this year.

 

What is the #10YearChallenge?

The 10 year challenge goes by many names: the #HowHardDidAgingHitYou challenge, the aging challenge and #GlowUp challenge, though the trend has picked up the most speed as the 10 year challenge. Participants simply post two images – usually side by side – which were taken at least ten years apart. The overall message? Self love and showing the world how you’ve “glowed up” (or, you know, showing how you haven’t aged a day). 

How to do the 10 year challenge 

on Facebook or Instagram

 

Participating in the challenge is pretty easy. All you have to do is share two side by side photographs of you ten years apart, then post it to your Facebook/Instagram account with the hashtag #10YearChallenge, though some people just choose to post a single throwback shot. 

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Last week, the State Council lauched another batch of inclusive tax cuts for small and micro sized enterprises! Each year, small and micro enterprises can reduce the burden by about 200 billion yuan, covering more than 95% of taxpaying enterprises!

上周国务院再推一批针对小微企业普惠性减税措施！每年可再为小微企业减负约2000亿元，覆盖95%以上的纳税企业！

 200 Billion Tax Cuts for Small & Micro Businesses! 重磅 | 小微企业减负2000亿

Official Notice

© Image | GOOGLE

The standards for small and micro sized enterprises will be greatly relaxed that they can enjoy corporate income tax concessions, and at the same time increase the income tax incentives. 

大幅放宽可享受企业所得税优惠的小型微利企业标准，同时加大所得税优惠力度。

The eligibility of small and low-profit businesses to benefit from preferential income tax will be significantly expanded. These businesses with an annual taxable income of less than 1 million yuan and between 1m to 3m yuan will be eligible to have their tax calculated based on 25 percent or 50 percent of their taxable income.

中小微企业享受所得税优惠的范围将明显扩大。对小型微利企业年应纳税所得额不超过100万元、100万元到300万元的部分，分别减按25%、50%计入应纳税所得额。

 

This is expected to reduce their tax burden to about 5 to 10 percent. The policy implementation date is from January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021.

预计这将把他们的税收负担降低到5%到10%。政策实施日期为2019年1月1日至2021年12月31日。

1

Further reduce the income tax burden of small and micro sized enterprises.

进一步降低小微型企业所得税负担。

 

Originally, in 2018, the annual profit was less than 1 million and was levied at 10%.

原来在2018年的时候年盈利少于100万按10%征收。

 

It is now 5% below 1 million, and 10% at 1.01-3 million.

现在是100万以下按5%，101-300万按10%征收。

© Image | GOOGLE

Small and micro sized enterprises need to meet two conditions 

小型微利企业需要满足两个条件

• The number of employees of industrial enterprises is less than 100, and the total value of assets is less than 30 million;

  工业企业人员规模少于100人，资产总值少于3000万；

 

• The number of employees in other industries is less than 80, and the total value of assets is less than 10 million, which is in line with the definition of small and micro sized enterprises.

  其他行业人员少于80人，资产总值少于1000万才符合小型微利企业定义。

Effect

作用

It will vigorously promote small enterprises to actively regulate and transfer income from private collections to company collections. The income of private accounts will be legally regulated to avoid future tax risks. 

将大力推动小型企业积极规范起来，把收入从私人收款转到公司收款；这个私人账户的收入就会合法规范，避免以后的税务风险。

 

In addition, some large companies can also enjoy tax reduction policies by splitting into small and micro sized enterprises.

另外有一些大公司也可以通过拆分变成小型微利企业享受减税政策。

2

Raise the threshold for value-added tax for small and micro enterprises.

提高小微型企业增值税起征点。

 

The executive meeting of the State Council has clarified that for small-scale taxpayers, mainly including small and micro enterprises, individual industrial and commercial households and other individuals, the VAT threshold will be raised from monthly sales of 30,000 yuan to 100,000 yuan.

国务院常务会议明确，对主要包括小微企业、个体工商户和其他个人的小规模纳税人，将增值税起征点由月销售额3万元提高到10万元。

© Image | GOOGLE

The second largest tax reduction and exemption policy will increase the VAT threshold from the original monthly sales of 30,000 to monthly sales of 100,000. That is, the quarterly sales will not exceed 300,000, then the value-added tax will be exempted. 

第二大税收减免政策，把增值税起征点从原来月销售3万提高到月销售10万，即季度销售不超30万，免征增值税。

It should be noted here that exemption from VAT is not exempt from corporate income tax, and companies should pay due attention to corporate income tax.

这里要注意，免交增值税但没有免交企业所得税，企业要适当关注企业所得税。