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Pinduoduo Employee’s Suicide Intensifies Online Debate on Company’s Working Culture

For the second time this month, Pinduoduo makes headlines for the death of an employee.

Manya Koetse

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The suicide of a Pinduoduo staff member is trending today on Chinese social media, where discussions on tough ‘996’ working schedules (working 9am-9pm, 6 days a week) have been ongoing since the sudden death of another employee.

The staff member named Tan (谭) reportedly jumped from the 27th floor of an apartment building in his hometown of Changsha in Hunan province, where he had arrived that same day. The incident occurred around 0:30 AM

Manya Koetse is a sinologist, writer, and public speaker specializing in China’s social trends, digital culture, and online media ecosystems. She founded What’s on Weibo in 2013 and now runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter. Learn more at manyakoetse.com or follow her on X, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

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1 Comment

1 Comment

  1. Olivier VEROT

    January 11, 2021 at 1:15 pm

    Very interesting topic Manya.
    The debate on working hour… I guess if you choose to work for these top popular startup Alibaba, tencent, Pinduoduo, huawei, you have to accept to work hard…
    if not, you can work for the government.
    My opinion….
    Should startups (fast growing company) sacrifice their energy and growth for the comfort of their employee?
    If startups lost their growth and energy, they will become less attractive for these ambitious talents.
    Personally I like what Pinduoduo is doing…

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China AI

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Welcome to China Trend Watch (Week 32–33 | 2026), where I bring you the latest trends, memes, and debates driving conversation across Chinese social media. I’m Manya Koetse, a sinologist specializing in Chinese digital culture.

 


 

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China Digital

How Chinese AI Videos Turned Foreigners into Villains

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Manya Koetse

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Welcome to China Trend Watch (Week 30–33 | 2026), where I bring you the latest trends, memes, and debates driving conversation across Chinese social media. Subscribe here to receive future editions.

 

Over the past few weeks, a noteworthy amount of AI-related news has been trending on Chinese social media, which is reflected in this week’s edition.

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