China in Translation

Top 10 Buzzwords in Chinese Online Media 2019

From blockchain to hardcore, this is an overview of China’s media top buzzwords over the past year.

Published

6 years ago

January 5, 2020

Some of the expressions and idioms that have been buzzing in Chinese media the past year. What’s on Weibo’s Jialing Xie explains.

Last year, we listed China’s “top ten buzzwords” for you (link), giving an overview of some noteworthy expressions on Chinese social media and in the media in 2018. Recently, the chief editor of the magazine Yǎowén Jiáozì (咬文嚼字) has again announced the “top ten buzzwords” in China of the past year.

Yǎowén Jiáozì, which literally means “to pay excessive attention to wording,” is a monthly publication focused on the Chinese language. Chinese (state) media have been widely propagating the magazine’s selection of the top words and terms of the past year in newspapers and on Chinese online media. The ten terms have also become a topic of discussion on Weibo over the past month, with the topic receiving 290 million views.

We’ve listed them for you here:

**1. 文明互鉴 (wénmíng hùjiàn): “Mutual Learning”**

Literal Meaning: “Mutual learning,” “Exchanges and mutual learning among different cultures and civilizations.”
Original context: This expression can be traced back to the era around and during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), a time of division, bloody battles, and political chaos. The demands for solutions brought forth a broad range of philosophies and schools. During this time, Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Mohism and many others were developed leading to the phenomenon known as the “Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought.”
What does it mean now? In 2014, at the 4th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a major initiative to convene a conference on dialogue between Asian countries followed by an introduction emphasizing how “diversity spurs interaction among civilizations, which promotes mutual learning.” This sentence and expression were later repeated in speeches during various major events. In May 2019, President Xi once again emphasized the idea during the CICA, making the term pop up across Chinese state media again.

**2. 区块链 (qū kuài liàn): “Blockchain”**

Literal Meaning: Blockchain Technology
Context: “Blockchain” is no longer a new concept since it was first introduced to the public around a decade ago. Development of the malleable blockchain technology has become an important trend in China’s tech market through the years.
What does it mean now? Blockchain was all the buzz in China over the past year. In early 2019, the Cyberspace Administration of China released the Provisions on the Administration of Blockchain Information Services. In October, President Xi singled out blockchain technology as an important breaking point in developing China’s core innovative technology and emphasized the importance of investing and stepping up research on the standardization of blockchain to increase China’s influence and power in the global arena.

**3. 硬核 (yìng hé): “Hardcore”**

Literal Meaning: “Hardcore” – 硬 = hard, 核 = core.
Context: “Hardcore” is known as the abbreviation for Hardcore Punk, a punk rock music genre originated in Southern California during the late 1970s. The term was later used to reference things of a certain level of complexity, such as “hardcore games” (versus casual games). The term started to mean something along the lines of “terrific” (厉害) or “strict”/”rigid” (刚硬) and in Chinese, started being used in expressions such as “Tiger mom” (硬核妈妈) or “Hardcore game players” (硬核玩家).
What does it mean now? As the Chinese science fiction blockbuster The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) was categorized as ‘hardcore science fiction’ (硬核科幻), the term ‘hardcore’ resurfaced as a popular word often popping up in (online) conversations.

4. **融梗 (róng gěng): “Mixing up ideas”**

Literal Meaning: “Integrating other people’s ideas into one’s own work” or “integrating punchlines,” “mixing up plots.”
Context: Over the past two decades, many literary works, including a few by prestigious Chinese writers, have been suspected of plagiarism and triggered heated discussions online — when it comes to drawing inspiration from other art and literary creations, where is the boundary between artistic freedom and plagiarism?
What does it mean now? Soon after the Chinese movie Better Days (少年的你) came out in October (read more here), the writer of the original novel was accused of plagiarizing parts of Japanese mystery writer Keigo Higashino’s work. Many netizens argued that in the field of online literature, borrowing ideas from others (融梗) is ubiquitous and does not necessarily equate plagiarism because the act (融梗) itself requires original work and creativity. From October to now, the term has become a recurring topic in Chinese media.

**5. “XX 千万条，XX 第一条” (XX qiān wàn tiáo, XX dì yī tiáo): “Out of millions of things,..is the first one”**

Literal Meaning: “Out of ten million things,.. xxx comes first as the rule of thumb.”
Context: List thinking is prevailing in China; from codes and regulations enacted by the government and laid down by companies, to the way teachers outline their lectures, the usage of “articles” (sometimes used as ‘rules’) or “items” (条) to organize ideas and outline objectives is commonly seen in daily life.
What does it mean now? This phrase caught people’s attention after appearing in the aforementioned science fiction film The Wandering Earth, where a robot voice reminds a driver of traffic safety in a noteworthy way, saying something along the lines of: “There are thousands of road rules, but safety rules always come first. If you disregard safety, your loved ones will end up in tears.” Despite sounding like a sketch that rhymes poorly in Chinese, the lines stuck around and were later also used by Chinese traffic police across the country. The sentence structure is now also more often applied in various other contexts, for example: “There are thousands of things good for health, but sleep is the most important.”

**6. 柠檬精 (níngméng jīng): “Lemon monster”**

Literal Meaning: “Lemon mythical spirit” or “Sour lemon goblin”
Context: In ancient Chinese superstitions, it’s believed that animals and non-living objects may have the potential to grow into something with spiritual and immortal characteristics if meeting certain criteria. One of the criteria is to be around long enough, usually hundreds of years – if not thousands. For instance, in the classical work Journey to the West (西游记), the four main characters except Tang Sanzang are all spiritual beings derived from animal prototypes.
What does it mean now? Lemon tastes sour (酸), which is often used to describe the feeling of envy or jealousy. When lemon becomes a spiritual being, it basically means the lemon has reached the ultimate stage of being a lemon and maximized its characteristics such as being terribly sour. The phrase is used to deride those who feel envious of others’ possession and achievement. Lately, the word is more often seen in a self deprecating humoristic context. For instance, when someone says “I’m a lemon jing now/I feel sour now( 我柠檬精了/我酸了)”, instead of expressing envy towards others, it’s more about acknowledging others more advantageous position compared to one’s own.

7. The 996 work schedule

Literal Meaning: 996 working hour system
Context: 996 is a work schedule commonly practiced by many companies in the internet and tech industry in China. With the 996 schedule, employees are required to work from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days per week.
What does it mean now? In April 2019, Jack Ma, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, commented on 996 during an internal meeting with Alibaba employees. Ma’s comments seemed to justify how companies and employees can both benefit from the work schedule, however, the comments quickly triggered criticism after widely circulating online for allegedly violating of the Labour Law of the People’s Republic of China.

**8. “我太难(南)了” (wǒ tài nán le): “Life is so hard for me”**

Literal Meaning: “I’m feeling uneasy” or “life is so hard for me”
Context: The phrase originated from a 10-second video self-posted by a user on video-sharing site Kuaishou earlier in 2019. As the video begins, the user – an older Chinese guy – says to the camera: “I’m feeling uneasy…” followed by sad music. He then continues to say “Lao tie [bro/guys], (I) have been under a lot of stress lately.” The video, in which the man dramatically drops his head in his hands and seems to cry without tears, quickly went viral. The phrase “I’m feeling uneasy” was quickly adopted and applied in daily conversations.
What does it mean now? The broad circulation of this phrase on the internet reflects that the uneasy feeling about life is relatable to many people. Acknowledging the stress in a self-deprecating humorous tone is in itself a way of relieving stress. To add a sense of humor to this phrase, many replace the initial character “难” (nán, adj. difficult) with “南” (nán, adj.& n. south), which is believed to be taken from the mahjong tile “南风”(south wind).

**9. “我不要你觉得，我要我觉得” (wǒ bùyào nǐ juédé, wǒ yào wǒ juédé): “I don’t want to know what you think, I only care about what I think”**

Literal Meaning: “I don’t want to know what you think, I only care about what I think.”
Context: The line was taken from Xiaoming Huang, one of the guests in the third season of the entertainment TV show “Chinese Restaurant”, which was broadcasted in the summer of 2019. In the show, Huang, who took the role as the manager of the restaurant, is self-centered, and often disregards the opinions of others in matters such as menu ideas or pricing, showing his blind self-confidence and arrogance. In addition to this line, Huang’s frequently used language includes “There is no need to discuss this matter”, “Listen to me, I have the final say” and so on, and it spread quickly on the internet.
What does it mean now? The popularity of this line reflects people’s ridicule and resentment against arrogant and dominant personalities.

**10. 霸凌主义 (bàlíng zhǔyì): “Bully-ism”**

Literal Meaning: “Bully-ism”
Context: The word 霸凌 (bàlíng) comes from the English word “bully.” Here, it refers to bullying other countries in the face of conflicts between nations.
What does it mean now? As the trade conflict between the US and China was ongoing in 2019, many believed that the current government administration of the United States has been handling international affairs in almost a bullying manner. The slogan “America First” is also often perceived as a declaration in front of the entire world that the interests of the United States come first. As a buzzword, “bullyism” has come to be used by Chinese media in the context of international affairs.

By Jialing Xie
Follow @whatsonweibo

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Jialing Xie

Jialing is a Baruch College Business School graduate and a former student at the Beijing University of Technology. She currently works in the US-China business development industry in the San Francisco Bay Area. With a passion for literature and humanity studies, Jialing aims to deepen the general understanding of developments in contemporary China.

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China in Translation

China’s 2025 Year in Review in 12 Phrases

Andrew Methven’s favorite Chinese phrases of the year, a special feature by RealTime Mandarin.

Published

3 months ago

December 31, 2025

Andrew Methven

Dear Reader,

Happy New Year! A new year is, undoubtedly, filled with new resolutions. I have a few on my list, and maybe we have some in common—like reading more books (my new e-reader is arriving from Shenzhen tomorrow!) and being more diligent about practicing my new Chinese vocabulary.

If upping your Chinese is also on your list for 2026, Andrew Methven’s newsletter, RealTime Mandarin, is a must-follow. It’s a free weekly resource that helps you improve your Mandarin in just 10 minutes a week, specifically designed for intermediate to advanced learners. I’ve been following Andrew’s work for over three years and love how he makes mastering the language more manageable, so I highly recommend giving it a follow.

Looking back on 2025, here is Andrew’s curated pick of 12 Chinese phrases to remember.

Every year at this time, we wrap up with our own “unofficial” list of top words and phrases. These are expressions that probably didn’t exist a year ago, but have gone viral and become mainstream lingo over the last 12 months. We’ve picked 12 phrases and avoided overlap with the “official” top ten lists.

Most of these phrases were newly invented or popularised in 2025. So if you haven’t been to China this year, you probably won’t know them.

And as always, these phrases began life in the most unlikely places: from Japanese Manga to Taiwanese baseball; from American online games, to viral moments shared by Chinese students living in the UK.

As we pulled this list together, we noticed something interesting: That it’s full of contradictions. According to these 12 phrases, and the trends they represent, it seems that for any one trend you can say is happening in China right now, you could also find another one that proves the exact opposite is true.

So we decided to explain our favourite phrases of 2025 through five contradictions:

⚔️ Contradiction #1: Consumers are not buying, but are buying like crazy

In January, consumer confidence collapsed, with retail sales in Shanghai and Beijing declining steeply. The broader trend of “consumption downgrading” (消费降级) began in 2024, with policymakers pushing for “rational consumption” (理性消费).

Yet 2025 also saw unbelievable and irrational sales success stories.

“Hard to get a Labubu” (一娃难求) became a trending phrase in June following the explosion of the Labubu (拉布布), an ugly-cute, kind-of-scary toy. Other consumer successes included the move into flavoured beer by ice tea giant, Mixue Bingcheng (蜜雪冰城).

⚔️ Contradiction #2: Businesses had an awful year, but a great year

In April, as the tariff war escalated, many of China’s exporters feared the worst: a “total wipeout” (团灭) of their sales.

China’s tech darling Xiaomi (小米) started the year strong with soaring EV sales, but by the end of the year faced a string of consumer backlashes.

While another EV brand, Neta (哪吒), battled collapse rumours at the start of the year, and outdoor brand, Arc’teryx, was boycotted after its disastrous “mind-blowing” (炸裂) exploding mountain PR stunt.

China’s big three ecommerce platforms — JD, Alibaba, and Meituan — continued in their “tripartite rivalry” (三足鼎立), each invading the others’ turf in a race to the bottom on price.

Yet 2025 also saw stunning business breakthroughs, such as when chipmaker Cambricon (寒武纪), fuelled by China’s “domestic substitution” (国产替代) push, surged from loss-making startup to briefly become China’s most valuable stock, surpassing liquor brand, Moutai (贵州茅台) in the process.

With investors coining a new phrase: “choosing chips over liquor” (喜芯厌酒).

⚔️ Contradiction #3: Government policy was forward-thinking, but also backfired spectacularly

2025 was the year of “Embodied intelligence” (具身智能), after the government prioritised this technology in its Work Report in March.

The following month, Beijing hosted the world’s first “humanoid robot half marathon” (人形机器人半马). And in November, XPENG’s humanoid robot, IRON, stunned observers with its lifelike female form.

Also in March, the State Council announced measures to stamp out “involuted” work practices. And by April, some of China’s tech giants had responded with the introduction of “anti-involution” (反内卷) policies, which has been an ongoing theme throughout the year.

But other government policies backfired spectacularly.

Strict alcohol bans introduced for government officials were criticised as “bureaucratic overreach” (层层加码), the introduction of the K-visa (K签) aimed at attracting foreign talent was derided on social media as youth unemployment sat at 19%. Mosquito eradication efforts in Guangdong were criticised as “using a cannon to kill a fly” (高射炮打蚊子) following heavy-handed measures reminiscent of COVID.

And in Hangzhou, a water contamination scandal resurrected one of our top phrases from 2024 when locals blasted the city government as an “unprofessional team” (草台班子).

⚔️ Contradiction #4: Youth are lying flat, but are fighting back

In August, we discussed a new phrase which had emerged: “rat people” (老鼠人).

It started when Chinese students in the UK began sharing “low-energy rat people” (低能量老鼠人) videos of their isolated lives enduring long, dark British winters. The meme took off as young people embraced “low energy” lifestyles.

But not all youngsters were taking it easy and giving up.

A Chery Auto (奇瑞) graduate employee went into “full confrontation mode” (贴脸开大) with his employer in August after refusing to work Saturdays, citing the government’s “anti-involution” (反内卷) directive.

And earlier in the year, China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) faced “widespread condemnation” (千夫所指) after its tone-deaf PR campaign celebrated how it had received 1 million applications for just 8,000 graduate positions.

⚔️ Contradiction #5: Influencers are out, but influencers are in

2025 saw established celebrities fall out of favour with their fans.

High profile entrepreneurs Lei Jun (雷军) and Jia Guolong (贾国龙), were branded “out-of-touch middle-aged men” (老登).

Meanwhile, unlikely viral stars emerged from the grassroots. Director Fang (房主任), a 50-year-old divorced housewife from Shandong, became one of China’s most-watched stand-up comics.

And a street vendor selling 6-yuan fried chicken cutlets in Jingdezhen (景德镇) became “Chicken Cutlet Brother” (鸡排哥) after a customer’s Douyin video of him cooking and serving customers went viral.

Of course, some unchanging themes continued to draw attention in 2025 as in previous years.

Like the abuse of power and privilege by China’s “celestial dragons” (天龙人): the next generation of elites who “leverage family ties” (拼爹) for their own interests.

So, let’s dive in!

Our Favourite Phrases of 2025

1. Mind-blowing

炸裂 zhà liè

💬 一个标榜户外精神的户外品牌，在最脆弱的生态环境里，搞了一场炸裂的秀。

💬 An outdoor brand that claims to embody the spirit of nature put on a “spectacular” fireworks show in one of the most fragile ecosystems.

Background:

Internet slang which started in Japanese baseball to describe explosive performance. It gained popularity in Taiwan baseball to describe spectacular moments. In Mainland Chinese it describes stunning and sudden success — such as the overtaking of Moutai by semi chip maker, Cambricon (寒武纪).

“Mind-blowing” can also be used as an ironic statement when something goes mind-blowingly wrong, like Arc’teryx’s disastrous fireworks PR stunt in the Himalayas in September.

Related RTM content:

2. Total wipeout

团灭 tuán miè

💬 最坏的情况下，储能在美国的业务会被“团灭”。

💬 In the worst-case scenario, the energy storage business in the U.S. will be totally wiped out.

Background

Started as a gaming phrase in team-based video games like World of Warcraft and League of Legends to describe total team wipe outs (all members dying together). It extended beyond gaming to describe collective failures in exams, work, or daily life.

We first came across it listening in to discussions between Chinese exporters in the face of US tariffs and the growing tariff war.

Related RTM content:

3. Out-of-touch middle-aged man

老登 lǎo dēng

💬 一连串的老登翻车，不能单纯用偶然和倒霉解释。

💬 When one boomer after another messes up, it’s not just coincidence or bad luck anymore.

Background

Originally a northern slang phrase, and a derogatory term for an old man (something like the English, “old git”). It took off this year after a number of high profile, self-inflicted PR disasters of high profile, influential male entrepreneurs. The most notable is Xiaomi founder, Lei Jun (雷军).

You can use it to describe any middle aged man who is condescending and appears out of touch with reality.

Related RTM content

4. Hard to get a Labubu

一娃难求 yì wá nán qiú

💬 火爆到“一娃难求”的LABUBU是泡泡玛特旗下“THE MONSTER”系列的一员。

💬 Labubu is part of Pop Mart’s “THE MONSTER” series, which has become so popular that it’s impossible to get one.

Background

One of the craziest shopping trends of 2025 — the obsession with these tiny, ugly, key ring toys made by Chinese company, Pop Mart. Since early 2025, images of Labubu filled social media feeds and become a must-have item for millions of fans and collectors in China.

Expect to see more from the Labubu in 2026.

Related RTM content:

Labubu are selling like hot cakes, and so are the fakes

5. “Chicken Cutlet Brother”

鸡排哥 jī pái gē

💬 最近，景德镇有个卖鸡排的大哥突然爆火，还被广大网友封为“鸡排主理人”。

💬 Recently, a man selling fried chicken in Jingdezhen suddenly went viral and was even dubbed the “chicken chop curator” by netizens.

Background

The “Chicken Cutlet Brother” (鸡排哥) story is one of our favourites from 2025. This 48-year-old overnight sensation is genuine, authentic, and unpolished – a refreshing change from the heavily curated content that dominated Chinese social media this year. His story echoes the “Second Uncle” (二舅) phenomenon we covered in 2022.

The sheer volume of memes and slang spawned by a single short video is staggering. Three phrases in China’s official top ten lists came directly from him. “Chicken Cutlet Brother” will likely become shorthand for authentic grassroots creators in 2026.

Related RTM content:

6. Rat person

老鼠人 lǎo shǔ rén

💬 今年以来，“低能量老鼠人的一天”系列短视频走红社交媒体，很多年轻人热衷于自我诊断为“低能量老鼠人”。

💬 This year, the short video series “A Day in the Life of a Low-Energy Rat Person” went viral on social media, with many young people eager to self-diagnose as such.

Background

The phrase “rat people” (老鼠人) began gaining traction in early 2025. It evolved from an earlier internet meme, “rat literature” (鼠鼠文学), a buzzword that first emerged in early 2023. By 2025, a related phrase emerged on social media: “low-energy rat people” (低能量老鼠人). It was first popularized by Chinese students in the UK, enduring long, dark winters in isolation.

It’s now become a way young people describe their low energy lifestyles.

Related RTM content:

There’s a new phrase in China’s “lie flat” movement

7. Over-privileged elite

天龙人 tiān lóng rén

💬 这的确是中国“新天龙人”的普遍特点——他们是很真诚地认为，集众美于一身的人生赛道是理所应当的。

💬 This indeed reflects a common trait of the next generation of the privileged in China—they genuinely believe that inheriting multiple forms of privilege is their birthright.”

Background

Originates from the Japanese manga, One Piece by Oda Eiichiro, referring to the descendants of twenty kings who founded the World Government. These characters enjoy extreme privileges, and consider themselves superior to ordinary people.

In Chinese online discourse, the term has evolved into internet slang to describe privileged elites in real life who are disconnected from ordinary people, who possess power and resources, live luxurious lives, and operate above the rules that govern everyone else.

Related RTM content:

8. Consumption downgrade

消费降级 xiāo fèi jiàng jí

💬 也只有走上消费降级，扩大食客基础的道路。

💬 The only way out is to embrace the consumption downgrade and broaden their customer base.

Background

Emerged around 2018 in response to economic pressures like high housing costs and slowing income growth. The explosive rise of discount e-commerce platforms like PDD (拼多多) became a symbol of this shift. The phrase represents a reversal of China’s decades-long consumption upgrade trend.

This year we’ve seen a number of major trends which fit the “consumption downgrade trend” — including the collapse of consumer confidence in Beijing and Shanghai, and incredible success of low priced convenience products like “one yuan iced cup” by tea brand, Goodme (古茗).

Related RTM content

9. Full confrontation mode

贴脸开大 tiē liǎn kāi dà

💬 一名00后奇瑞校招生李某凯“贴脸开大”，在收到公司周六开会的邮件后，直接回复拒绝，并且将邮件抄送公司高层，包括集团二把手。

💬 Li, a Gen Z Chery campus recruit, chose to confront it head-on by saying no to the Saturday meeting in an email, in which he copied the company’s senior executives, including the group’s second-in-command.

Background

Started online gaming where it describes high-risk, high-reward move of rushing directly up to an enemy and unleashing your ultimate ability at point-blank range. The phrase has evolved into internet slang to describe being direct or blunt.

It’s similar to “bringing up exactly what shouldn’t be mentioned” or being brutally frank, often used with a teasing or mocking tone. Just like a graduate employee at Chery did this year when he refused to attend Saturday training and meetings.

Related RTM content:

Graduate employee takes on Chery Auto and its overtime work culture

10. Choosing chips over liquor

喜芯厌酒 xǐ xīn yàn jiǔ

💬 在资本市场「喜芯厌酒」情绪托举下，寒武纪摇身变新王。

💬 Fueled by investor’s shift from liquor to chips, Cambricon is crowned the new king on the capital markets.

Background

A clever wordplay on the Chinese idiom “love the new, hate the old” (喜新厌旧), which is typically used to criticise disloyalty in relationships or fair-weather behaviour. The new version substitutes two characters while maintaining the original pronunciation: “new” (新 xīn) becomes “microchip” (芯 xīn), and “old” (旧 jiù) becomes “alcohol” (酒 jiǔ). This perfectly captures investor enthusiasm for semiconductor stocks like Cambricon while abandoning traditional alcohol companies like Moutai.

But the wordplay retains the original idiom’s critical edge, questioning whether Cambricon represents genuine long-term value or just another fleeting trend investors will abandon.

Related RTM content:

11. Using a cannon to kill a fly

高射炮打蚊子 gāo shè pào dǎ wén zi

💬 重型机械来灭蚊，真有种高射炮打蚊子的既视感。

💬 Heavy machinery for mosquitoes? Brilliant strategy, just like using a cannon to kill a fly.

Background

Literally “using anti-aircraft guns to kill mosquitoes”, which is a xiehouyu (歇后语), a traditional two-part allegorical saying where a vivid scenario delivers its punchline through absurd imagery. The phrase describes massively disproportionate responses to minor problems. While not coined in 2025, it became popular this year as commentary on heavy-handed government policies, particularly Guangdong’s extreme mosquito eradication campaigns.

It perfectly captures public frustration with bureaucratic overreach, when authorities deploy maximum force against minimal threats.

Related RTM content:

12. The beauty of an economic upturn

经济上行期的美 jīng jì shàng xíng qī de měi

💬 最近刷到越来越多人开始怀念10年代经济上行期的美。

💬 Lately, I’ve seen more and more people reminiscing online about the beauty of the economic upturn during the 2010s.

Background

This has become a viral hashtag on Chinese social media. It refers to roughly 2001-2015, when China’s economy maintained near double-digit growth and quality of life visibly improved year after year. Upward mobility felt tangible. Opportunities seemed everywhere.

This optimism defined early iterations of China’s largest online shopping festival, Double 11, launched in 2009, when it was ok to “consume and be happy” (消费即幸福).

But for many, that sense of optimism has now faded.

Related RTM content:

China’s Double 11 shopping festival loses its shine

By Andrew Methven

China in Translation

Jiehun Huazhai (结婚化债): Getting Married to Pay Off Debts

Published

9 months ago

July 3, 2025

Manya Koetse

🔥 A version of this story also appeared in the Weibo Watch newsletter. Subscribe to stay in the loop.

Our Weibo phrase of the week is 结婚化债 jiéhūn huàzhài. Lately, the term “结婚化债” jiéhūn huàzhài, which translates to “marriage as debt resolution” or “getting married to resolve debt” is a recurring term on Chinese social media.

The word refers to a phenomenon that has become more prevalent alongside rising debts among younger people in China due to credit card debts or personal (online) loans. Instead of resolving their debts in other ways, there are people who turn to marriage as a way to solve financial problems. It’s not a promise of love-it’s a calculated transaction.

By getting married, women in particular can demand high bride prices and make their new husbands help repay their premarital loans.

Once they’re out of debt, they quickly divorce and leave their partners both emotionally and financially ruined.

Especially in China, where there are many more men of marriage age than women, women find an easy target in marriage-minded men who might not even be aware of their partner’s debt before tying the knot.

As a result of this controversial trend, bloggers and influencers are now warning people not to rush into marriage—recommending they check for financial transparency and, if needed, hire a lawyer to conduct a premarital financial investigation.

“The practice is old, the word is new,” one Weibo commenter wrote (“旧行业新名词”).

Others also agree that the phenomenon itself is not new: “Actually, this kind of scheme has been around for a long time, I heard about it twenty years ago. It just wasn’t that widespread back then because online lending didn’t exist yet. That said, society tends to adapt. Once a particular tactic becomes too common in the market, it naturally starts to lose its effectiveness.”

In the end, the best prevention against these sorts of practices is to increase social awareness—and not get blinded by love.

Explore more Chinese buzzwords and online language trends here.

By Manya Koetse

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