German scientists have discovered a magical chameleon subspecies in northern Madagascar. They are only the size of melon seeds and can lie on human fingers, which may be the smallest reptile on the earth.

　　The Bavarian National Zoo in Munich, Germany, said that they found two adult miniature chameleons, a female and a male, in northern Madagascar. Among them, the male is only 22 mm long, which is the smallest known reptile. The other female chameleon is a little bigger, but the total length is only 29 mm.

　　The researchers said that it is not clear why the species is so small, but perhaps similar to the "island effect", animals trapped on the island and with small habitats tend to evolve smaller bodies.

　　However, the living environment of this new species is worrying. The habitat of this chameleon has been destroyed by deforestation. Fortunately, in recent years, the government has planned a protected area in the local area, so they are lucky to survive.

　　Huang Qiang, male, Han nationality, born in April 1963 in Dongyang, Zhejiang Province, joined the work in July 1983 and joined the Communist Party of China (CPC) in June 1985. He graduated from the School of Management of Northwestern Polytechnical University with a master’s degree, a doctor of engineering and a researcher-level senior engineer.

　　1979.09— 1983.07 majoring in aeronautical electrical engineering, Department of Aviation Automatic Control, Northwestern Polytechnical University

　　1983.07— 1987.09 Designer, Room 14, No.603 Institute of Aviation Industry

　　1987.09— In March 1990, he studied aviation electrical engineering in the Department of Aviation Automatic Control of Northwestern Polytechnical University and obtained a master’s degree in engineering.

　　1990.03— 1992.12 Engineer, deputy head and deputy director of the ad hoc system design room of the Engineering Development Department of Xi ‘an Aircraft Industry Company, Ministry of Aerospace.

　　1992.12— 1994.10 Director of the Ad Hoc System Design Office of the Ministry of Aerospace and Aviation Industry Corporation No.603 (during this period: 1994.03— In August 1994, China Aviation Technology Import and Export Shenzhen Company took a post exercise)

　　1994.10— April 2000 Assistant Director and Deputy Director of No.603 Institute of China Aviation Industry Corporation and General Manager and Executive Deputy Director of Science and Technology Industry Corporation (during this period: February 1998.02— 1998.06 Studying in English Training Class of Xi ‘an Foreign Languages Institute; 1999.03— 1999.07 Central Party School’s prefectural-level cadre training class)

　　2000.04— 2003.04 Director of No.603 Institute of China Aviation Industry First Group Corporation

　　2003.04— 2003.06 Head of the Preparatory Team of the First Aircraft Design and Research Institute of China Aviation Industry Corporation I.

　　2003.06— 2005.06 Dean, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Director of Shanghai Aircraft Design Institute of China Aviation Industry Corporation I.

　　2005.06— 2006.01 Dean and Party Secretary of the First Aircraft Design and Research Institute of China Aviation Industry Corporation I and Director and Party Secretary of Shanghai Aircraft Design and Research Institute.

　　2006.01— 2008.06 Secretary-General of the Commission of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (2003.09— In June 2006, the School of Management of Northwestern Polytechnical University studied as an in-service postgraduate majoring in management science and engineering, and obtained a doctorate in engineering; 2007.03— 2008.01 Central Party School one-year training course for young and middle-aged cadres)

　　2008.06— 2014.01 Deputy Director and Member of the Party Group of the State Bureau of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense

　　2014.01— 2017.03 Vice Governor of Gansu Province and Member of the Party Group of the Provincial Government

　　2017.03— 2018.05 Standing Committee of Gansu Provincial Party Committee, Executive Vice Governor and Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the Provincial Government

　　2018.05— 2018.06 Standing Committee of Henan Provincial Committee

　　2018.06— 2020.11 Member of the Standing Committee of Henan Provincial Party Committee, Executive Vice Governor and Deputy Secretary of the Party Group of the Provincial Government

　　2020.11— 2020.12 Deputy Secretary of Sichuan Provincial Committee

　　2020.12— 2021.02 Deputy Secretary of Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, Vice Governor, Acting Governor and Party Secretary of the provincial government.

　　2021.02— Deputy Secretary of Sichuan Provincial Party Committee, Governor of Provincial Government and Party Secretary

　　Deputies to the 13th National People’s Congress and the 13th Provincial People’s Congress.

　　(Resume source: Sichuan Provincial People’s Government Network)

　　On July 6, Shu Yuting, spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, introduced at a regular press conference that from January to May 2023, China’s service trade maintained an overall growth trend. The total import and export of services was 2,605.54 billion yuan (RMB, the same below), up 10.2% year-on-year. Among them, exports were 1,098.22 billion yuan, down 4.7%; Imports reached 1,507.32 billion yuan, up by 24.2%; The service trade deficit was 409.1 billion yuan.

　　Kevin·Z, an associate researcher at China Service Outsourcing Research Center, told the Economic Information Daily that the growth of China’s service trade continued to improve from January to May, and the import and export volume of services achieved double-digit growth year-on-year. It can be predicted that with the acceleration of international cooperation in China’s service industry, China’s total service trade will reach a new high in the whole year.

　　It is worth noting that while the total volume has maintained rapid growth, the structure of China’s service trade has continued to optimize, and the proportion of knowledge-intensive service trade has increased. From January to May, the import and export of knowledge-intensive services was 1,122.78 billion yuan, up 13.6% year-on-year, accounting for 43.1% of the total import and export of services, up 1.3 percentage points over the same period of last year. Among them, the export of knowledge-intensive services was 656.59 billion yuan, up by 17.2%, and the import of knowledge-intensive services was 466.19 billion yuan, up by 8.8%.

　　In Kevin·Z’s view, this is the concrete embodiment of the continuous improvement of the development quality of China’s service trade. "From the data point of view, China’s knowledge-intensive service trade continued to maintain a rapid growth trend in the first five months, accounting for a steady increase in the total import and export of services, and has become the strength to build a new development pattern of services and promote the high-quality development of trade in the new era."

　　In addition, travel services have obviously recovered. From January to May, the import and export of travel services reached 552.54 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 67%, making it the fastest-growing service trade field. Among them, exports increased by 53.4% and imports increased by 68.1%. Kevin·Z analyzed that from January to May, China’s travel service achieved a leap-forward growth, with a year-on-year increase of over 60%, and the recovery momentum was strong, which became an important driving force for the steady growth of service trade.

　　The favorable factors for the development of China’s service trade are still accumulating. Kevin·Z said that with the accelerated popularization of the new generation of information technology and the accelerated development of digitalization and intelligence, digital trade with digital technology, digital products, digital services and data information as its subject matter is booming. China’s digital industry has developed rapidly. At present, it is the second largest digital economy in the world, with a number of digital enterprises with strong international comparative advantages. At the same time, it benefits from a super-large market with a population of 1.4 billion, which provides fertile ground for the development of digital trade and has great development potential. In the future, digital trade will become a new engine for the development of China’s service trade, and will also make greater contributions to the prosperity and development of global trade.

　　People’s Daily Online, Beijing, May 13 (Yang Xi) Recently, the release of the main data of the seventh national census has aroused great concern from all walks of life. Some netizens found that the trend reflected by the census data published this time is inconsistent with that published in non-census years, so they raised some questions about individual data.

　　In this regard, the National Bureau of Statistics answered the above questions and related questions of population statistics.

　　How to count and publish population data?

　　At present, China’s demographic survey mainly has three ways:

　　The first is the national census, which is conducted once every ten years in the year when the mantissa meets "0", and the census data is published in China Census Data.

　　The second is the national 1% population sampling survey, which was conducted in the year when the mantissa met "5", and the survey data was published in the National 1% Population Sampling Survey Data.

　　Third, the national sample survey of population changes, the sample size accounts for about 1&permil of the total population; In addition to the census year and the sampling year of 1% population survey, it is conducted once a year, and the survey data are published in the Statistical Yearbook of China and the Statistical Yearbook of Population and Employment of China.

　　The main statistical indicators of the above three types of population data will be published in the annual data in the database of the National Bureau of Statistics.

　　Why is the trend reflected by census data inconsistent with that published in non-census years?

　　The population in non-census years is calculated according to the sampling survey data of that year. Due to the missing rate of sampling surveys in some years, there will be some deviations in the estimated population as a whole, and these deviations will continue to accumulate with the passage of time.

　　Carrying out the population census once every 10 years can comprehensively find out the number, structure and distribution of China’s population, let us know more clearly the development of China’s population in the past 10 years, and provide extremely valuable data for better studying population issues and formulating population-related policies.

　　So how to deal with this inconsistency? According to international practice and common practice, after the census, the annual data published between the two censuses are generally revised according to the census results, so as to reflect the population development track more truly and objectively. In the sixth national census and the just-concluded fourth national economic census, historical data were also revised according to census data. At present, this work is in progress, and the relevant data will be released on schedule after the revision is completed.

　　Is the population statistics based on household registration or residence?

　　At present, China’s population census and population survey are counted and summarized according to the resident population. The time standard for judging the permanent population is half a year, and the space standard is township, town and street.

　　The resident population is an important basic data for formulating the national economic and social development plan, evaluating the national economic production capacity, and evaluating the welfare level of residents. It has a wide range of applications, such as financial expenditure, urban construction, housing construction, allocation of public facilities, education investment, medical investment and public utility investment, etc., which need to be planned according to the size of the resident population.

　　The registered population refers to the registered population in a certain area, regardless of whether they go out or not, as long as they register their permanent residence in the public security household registration management department. The data of registered population is counted by the public security department. For a long time, China has established a set of perfect household registration statistics and management system, which has played an important role in social management.

　　How is the floating population data counted?

　　Floating population refers to the population whose residence is inconsistent with the township street where the household registration place is located, and who has been separated from the household registration place for half a year or more (excluding the separation of households within the municipal area). The survey indicators used to judge and reflect the floating population include: the place of registration, the place of residence at the time of investigation, the time of leaving the place of registration and the reasons for leaving the place of registration. The National Bureau of Statistics formulates a demographic survey system according to the Statistics Law of the People’s Republic of China, conducts demographic surveys on a regular basis, and publishes major demographic data such as permanent population, birth population, dead population, urban and rural population and floating population.

I present a complete strategy for Beijing automobile test drive, covering the reserved entrance, store distribution, matters needing attention, as well as value-added preferential activities to help you start the test drive without worry.

1. Interactive appointment on social media: Participate in the test drive activity or topic discussion on the official account of BAIC on social media, with private messages or messages indicating the test drive intention and leaving contact information, and the brand will arrange consultants to confirm the test drive details.
2. Appointment in WeChat official account: Pay attention to WeChat official account, the official WeChat of BAIC, click "Appointment Test Drive", fill in the information, select the model, store and time, and WeChat official account will send confirmation information including the contact information of the consultant and matters needing attention after submission.
3, 4S shop direct telephone booking: Call the local Beijing Auto 4S shop hotline, inform the intended model and test drive time, the dealer arranges the test drive, or send a sales consultant to take the car to the designated place.
4. Third-party platforms for automobiles: Third-party platforms for automobiles, such as Pacific Auto Network, have links or buttons to make an appointment for test drive on the vehicle details page. Click and fill in the information as required to make an appointment.
Below is the detailed information of Beijing automobile dealers’ stores. Contact the stores immediately, enjoy their professional services and start your experience journey!
The first one: Shanghai Jishen Beijing Automobile, and their store phone number is.
The second one: Shanghai Jingshen Beiqi New Energy, located in Building 8, No.3585, Sanlu Highway, Shanghai. Their store contact number is.
The third store: Shanghai Dongchang Beiqi New Energy, located in Room 202, Building 1, No.5179 Gonghe New Road, Baoshan District, Shanghai. Their store contact number is.
The fourth store: Shanghai Bingxiang Beijing, located at No.2298, Qixin Road, Minhang District, Shanghai. Their store contact number is.

1. Define the requirements: think about the characteristics of the required vehicle, such as comfort, energy saving or off-road performance, and focus on the experience during the test drive.
2. Appearance inspection: Check the car body before the test drive, and report any scratches and dents in time to prevent disputes.
3, steering experience: turn around, feel the steering accuracy, steering wheel feel and smooth return.
4. Comfort test: check the seat, noise, air conditioning and smooth driving during the test drive to ensure comfortable enjoyment.
5. Safe test drive: observe the traffic regulations, follow the instructions, and do not overspeed or change lanes to ensure the safety of test drive.
6. Test drive feedback: After the test drive, communicate with sales or coaches about test drive feelings and questions, including vehicle problems and performance evaluation.

1. Some stores of BAIC will provide test drive gifts, such as points and membership cards. Please consult local dealers for details.
2. Make an appointment for a test drive of a designated vehicle from a third-party platform (Pacific Auto Network) and get it from cash-filled red envelopes.
3. If you have the intention to buy a car, some cities have car subsidy activities, so you can go to find out the relevant information.

1. Test drive time: usually 30 minutes to 1 hour. The specific time can be confirmed with the dealer in advance.
2. When making an appointment, the dealer shall be clearly informed of the specific vehicle configuration requirements.
3. Wear a seat belt during the test drive and pay attention to the road conditions.

I hope the above information can help you easily complete the test drive appointment of BAIC and get a better test drive experience.

BA.4 and BA.5, the new branches of Omicron with stronger communication power, have recently attracted attention. The new branch has triggered a new infection peak in South Africa, and the Portuguese National Institute of Health also estimates that its growth advantage is 13% more than that of BA.2.

Screenshots from the nextstrain website show that the different Omicron branches represented by yellow, orange and red are iterating rapidly within half a year, and the new branches represented by orange and red are also expanding in the cracks.

Screenshot of nextstrain website. According to the uploaded sequencing data, since December last year, the mainstream branches in Omicron have gradually changed from BA.1 (shown as 21K) to BA.2 (shown as 21L) to BA2.12.1 (shown as 22C), and the area occupied by new branches is also expanding.

The new branches of Omicron are frequent. Is the current COVID-19 vaccine still effective? Do the branches BA.2 and BA.5 need their own vaccines? Should the update of COVID-19 vaccine keep up with the variation of virus? How to keep up with the virus mutation? With the above questions, the reporter of Science and Technology Daily contacted and interviewed a number of industry experts.

Is the current vaccine still effective?

Does the mutation branch in Omicron constantly trigger new infection peaks, which means that the current COVID-19 vaccine will be invalid?

Authoritative experts in the industry responded to the Science and Technology Daily reporter and said: "Current vaccines can still provide the most basic protection in ensuring the reduction of severe illness and death.. The epidemic in COVID-19 has been going on for two and a half years. At present, it seems that there is no possibility for Covid-19 to achieve zero infection through vaccination. COVID-19 vaccine can ensure the effect of reducing infection and avoiding serious illness and death. "

Regarding the role of the current vaccine in epidemic prevention and control, the person in charge of vaccine-related production enterprises in COVID-19 holds the same view: "The existing vaccine is no problem in preventing severe illness and death at present, but it will not be 100% anti-infection."

Many statistics or research results from the real world show that the current vaccine plays a significant role in preventing severe illness and death. For example, the latest data in Hong Kong (as of May 25th) showed that the mortality rate of those infected in Omicron who were not vaccinated was 3.04%, while the mortality rate of those infected with three doses of vaccine dropped significantly to 0.04%.

Do the branches BA.2 and BA.5 all need their own vaccines?

According to WHO’s latest weekly report on epidemiological progress in COVID-19 (May 25th),Omicron BA.2 and its progeny pedigree (BA.2.X) have become the main popular variants in the world.At present, the relative proportions of BA.2.X, BA.4 and BA.5 are 94%, 0.8% and 1% respectively.

This shows that during the evolution of Omicron mutant, the branch BA.1 is disappearing. However, the reporter learned that at present, most vaccines against Omicron in China are designed and developed for BA.1.

Whether it is necessary to develop new vaccines for new branches, the industry generally judges from the perspective of vaccine protection: if the activity of neutralizing antibodies produced by the original vaccines against mutant strains is greatly reduced, it is necessary to develop new vaccines; If it still has a good neutralizing effect on the mutant, there is no need to develop a new vaccine.

Although Omicron strain mutates rapidly and different branches appear, butNew vaccines will not be introduced for each branch, and there is no need to do so.. Relevant experts reminded: "If you continue to monitor, you will find that many mutations will disappear soon."

Can vaccine update keep up with virus iteration?

In the technical route of vaccine development in COVID-19, the design cycle of mRNA vaccine is short. On the basis of a mature platform, the design can be completed within 7 days, and the preclinical trials including animal experiments can be completed in about one month.

Industry experts engaged in the research and development of mRNA vaccine said that for the variant branch, the mRNA vaccine does not need to obtain the strain, but only needs to optimize the vaccine sequence according to the variant sequence and test the expression efficiency, and then pre-clinical trials can be carried out. Covid-19 Omicron mutant mRNA vaccine, developed by Suzhou Aibo Bio, China, has been approved for clinical research in UAE.

In response to virus variation, the technical route of inactivated vaccine can also complete the preclinical study of new strains in a short time by establishing an emergency system. The reporter previously learned that it can be advanced to the clinical trial application stage about 2 months after obtaining the new strain.

Keep up with the variation, can COVID-19’s vaccine market learn from the "flu model"

In order to cope with the frequent mutation of viruses, there are precedents for vaccine updates to follow closely. For example, the influenza virus vaccine is recommended by WHO every year, and countries produce new influenza vaccines accordingly.

In order to keep up with the variation in Covid-19, can the "flu model" be used for reference in the marketing of vaccines in COVID-19?

“It is estimated that the future development of COVID-19 vaccine needs to adopt the influenza model.The authoritative experts mentioned above responded, but WHO is unable to recommend mainstream strains through monitoring now, because the pandemic is not over yet.

Another advantage of the "flu model" is that it greatly shortens the time to market for new vaccines. Because there is no need for re-approval, its batch issuance system can effectively shorten the period from vaccine development to marketing. Experts in the industry said that after polishing and construction, various technical routes and platforms have gradually matured, the research and development speed has been accelerated, and the production process has been stable.If the "flu model" can be adopted in the development and marketing of vaccines in COVID-19, the time to market for new vaccines will be greatly shortened.

WHO has revealed some unexpected phenomena in its weekly epidemiological report: available data show that BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2.12.1 spread faster in countries where BA.1 was once prevalent, but less in countries where BA.2 was prevalent; The vaccination degree of each country may have an impact on the popularity of the new branch of Omicron. Visible,Covid-19 mutation and vaccine immunogenicity are mutually causal and widely related, and updating the vaccine in time may have an impact on virus mutation.

Source: Science and Technology Daily

Original title: "Omicron iterates fast, is it necessary to be" anxious "about the vaccine? 》

Read the original text

North America is the largest film market in the world, and it is also the main battlefield to test the success or failure of a Hollywood film. Generally speaking, there are two institutions that regularly publish box office data of North American film market: the website Box Office Mojo mainly collects and counts the data reported by publishers themselves; Comscore, a media company specializing in collecting and analyzing all kinds of data, collects daily box office data from the cinema, which is also the main source of box office data for American media.

Traditionally, Comscore’s annual report will not be released until the first Tuesday of the new year, that is, January 2, 2024, local time in the United States, but it is said that the total box office in North America will basically fall between $9.03 billion and $9.05 billion in 2023. As for Box Office Mojo, because of the time difference, the North American box office figure in 2023 on this website is still at $8.905499 billion for the time being, but I believe it will be further updated in a few days.

"Baben Harmo"

Looking back on the key words of North American movies in 2023, the first one was "Baben Harmo": two commercial blockbusters with irrelevant contents and types collided head-on in the same schedule, and the result was not that they changed, but that they successfully ignited the audience’s enthusiasm together and became a phenomenal movie event in 2023. Barbie, produced by Warner Bros. Film Company, finally became the North American box office champion in 2023 with a score of $636 million, while Oppenheimer, produced by Universal Pictures, ranked fifth in the annual box office list in North America with $326 million.

The success of the two works has its own reasons, but to sum up, it is nothing more than abandoning the routine and highlighting the new ideas. Together with Universal Pictures’ Super Mario Bros. Movie, which ranked second in North America’s annual box office list with US$ 574 million, these three works can be said to have high original value.

Although Barbie comes from a world-famous popular toy, Super Mario Bros. Movie is based on a well-known video game of the same name, and the protagonist of Oppenheimer has already gone down in history because of the atomic bomb, they are not actually sequel to the movie or remakes of old movies, which can attract the audience to buy tickets and rely on real original stories and designs.

Stills of Super Mario Bros. Movie

In sharp contrast, in 2023, a lot of blockbusters failed at the box office, almost all sequels and series of works. In addition to the superhero movies that have completely tired the audience aesthetically, Raiders of the Lost Ark 5 and Mission Impossible 7 have also failed to achieve satisfactory box office results.

The total box office in North America in 2023 is definitely the highest in North America since the epidemic subverted the film industry, far better than the $7.46 billion in 2022 and $4.56 billion in 2021. However, such achievements have not returned to the level before the epidemic.

Historically, the box office in North America has steadily exceeded $10 billion every year since 2009, and since 2015, this figure has exceeded $11 billion every year. Before the epidemic, in 2019, although the box office performance of North American movies has been severely squeezed by the streaming media market, the box office of the whole year can still easily reach 11.4 billion US dollars.

On the surface, it seems that the main reason is that the number of films released by Hollywood studios is getting smaller and smaller every year: only 88 films were released on a large scale in 2023, while in 2019, the box office reached 10.5 billion US dollars, which was 108, a full 20 more. However, I really want to say, even if there are 20 more new films in 2023, will it be guaranteed that the box office will increase by 2 billion US dollars? Who can say that these 20 films will get an average of $100 million at the North American box office each?

Movies like Barbie and Oppenheimer can persuade people to pay for tickets because they can only appreciate the beauty of light and shadow when they are watched on the big screen, and the same is true for Taylor Swift: Time Tour Concert, which became a dark horse at the box office near the end of the year. In 2023, when the streaming media service is becoming more and more mature (and saturated), how many movies must be experienced in the cinema in the eyes of the audience? Below, we will look at it according to the winners and losers list of the five major Hollywood manufacturers.

Universal Pictures International

Wins: Super Mario Bros. Movie ($575 million), Oppenheimer ($326 million), Five Nights of the Teddy Bear ($137 million) and Megan ($95 million).

Negative: Speed and Fury 10 ($146 million), Renfield ($17 million), Demeter’s Last Voyage ($13 million).

According to film companies, Universal Pictures, which won $1.93 billion in 2023, topped the North American box office list. With the blockbuster films such as Super Mario Bros. Movie and Oppenheimer, Universal has occupied about 22% of the box office share in North America, slightly overwhelming Disney and winning the first prize since 2015.

Oppenheimer stills

In 2023, Universal occupied two seats in the top five most popular films in North America. In addition, the innovative thriller Megan, which cost only $12 million, also earned nearly $100 million at the box office, while Five Nights of the Teddy Bear turned the cost of $20 million into a box office of $137 million, making them the two most cost-effective movies in 2023.

Of course, Universal also made some mistakes in 2023, and the tenth The Fast and the Furious series was exhausted, but the production cost was getting higher and higher, reaching a shocking $340 million, which erased a lot of the annual bonus of Universal.

In 2024, Kung fu panda 4’s "Daddy Thief 4" and other works will be listed around the world, and there is still a chance to win the championship again.

Disney

Wins: Galaxy Guard 3 ($359 million), The Little Mermaid ($297 million), Crazy Element City ($154 million).

Negative: Captain Surprise 2 ($84 million), Indiana Jones 5 ($174 million), Star Wish ($61 million), Haunted House ($68 million).

2023 is Disney’s centenary birthday, which should have been a year worth celebrating. Various commemorative movies, books and activities were also arranged in advance. However, the overall commercial achievements released at the end of the year made 2023 a year when Mickey Mouse fell to the altar.

Since the annual box office accounted for 26% in 2016, Disney has become the sole overlord of Hollywood in the past few years by relying on its fist products such as Marvel Comics and Pixar; The peak appeared in 2019, accounting for 33.3% of the box office. Seven of the top ten films in the world were produced by Disney, and the box office of each film exceeded $1 billion, leaving the other Hollywood giants completely behind.

However, with the arrival of COVID-19, everything came to an abrupt end. Three years after the epidemic, Disney’s box office share was only 11%, 20% and 18% respectively. However, at that time, Disney’s box office declined because of the external factors of closed cinemas and filming stoppage, which can be said to be a crime of no war. By the end of the epidemic in 2023, Disney’s box office still accounts for only 16%, so you can only find the reason from yourself.

The most serious problem is naturally the continuous downturn of the Marvel movie universe. From "Ant Man 3" at the beginning of the year to "Captain Surprise 2" at the end of the year, all of them lost their eye-catching characteristics in the past, and the latter even became the worst box office in the history of Marvel Comics movies, which made Disney CEO Bob Iger admit that at the previous stage, they really made a big mistake of focusing only on quantity and ignoring quality. At the same time, it also reminds opponents once again that there has never been any panacea in Hollywood, and the tastes of the audience are changing rapidly. Sitting on one’s laurels and standing still is doomed to die.

"Galaxy Guard 3" poster

On the whole, among the top ten box offices in North America, Disney still has the illusion that "Guards of the Galaxy 3" ranks fourth, "The Little Mermaid" ranks sixth and "Ant Man 3" ranks eighth, and there is still the illusion that "the skinny camel is bigger than the horse". However, excluding the special circumstances of the epidemic for three years, this has become the first year since 2014 that Disney has not had any film with a global box office exceeding the $1 billion mark.

Of course, Disney’s advantage is that it has acquired a large number of high-quality assets through mergers in the past few years. After being acquired by Disney, 20th Century Fox, which originally belonged to the ranks of the six Hollywood manufacturers, was renamed 20th Century Pictures, and its box office was also included in the Disney Group’s evaluation. In 2023, they released three works, Cabinet Devil, Venetian fright night and AI Creator. Together with the release of Avatar 2 in early 2023, they earned about $400 million in North American box office. Including this part, Disney accounted for about 21% of the annual box office in North America, ranking second.

Warner Bros.

Wins: Barbie ($636 million), Nun 2 ($86 million), Meg 2 ($82 million), Wonka ($143 million).

Negative: The Flash ($108 million), The Blue Beetle ($72 million), Shazam 2 ($57 million), Aquaman 2 ($85 million).

With Barbie, the highest box office in North America in 2023 (the film also won the annual global box office champion with a box office score of $1.44 billion), Warner failed to become the North American box office champion in 2023, ranking third with only $1.4 billion and a share of about 15.24%. I am afraid that the reason can only be attributed to the poor box office performance of DC superheroes.

"Barbie" stills

In addition to Barbie, in 2023, Warner also tasted a lot of sweetness in the horror film Sister 2 and the family movie Wonka. However, they invested about $660 million in the production cost of the four DC films, The Flash, The Blue Beetle, Shazam 2 and Aquaman 2. As a result, the global box office revenue of the four films was less than that of the 2016 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($874 million).

In 2024, Warner will publish Dune 2, Godzilla vs. king kong 2, Clown 2 and other works, which hopefully will lead to a comeback.

Sony pictures

Wins: Spider-Man: The Vertical and Horizontal Universe (US$ 381 million) and The Wronger 3 (US$ 92 million).

Negative: Silly Money ($13 million) and Escape from Cretaceous ($32 million).

In 2020, when the world was in chaos, Sony Pictures once became the biggest winner in the North American film market, gaining more than 20% market share. After that, in 2021, they also continued to be in the forefront. However, in 2022, when everything is slightly back on track, Sony’s market share has retreated to the fifth place. In 2023, the situation is slightly better than that of Paramount, which is at the bottom. The annual box office of less than $1 billion accounts for about 11% of the market.

Stills of Spider-Man: The Vertical and Horizontal Universe

During the three years of the epidemic, Sony released about 16 or 17 works every year, and in 2023, it rose to 27, far more than any other Hollywood factory, and basically recovered to the level before the epidemic.

The animated film Spider-Man: The Vertical and Horizontal Universe, which was released in June, is a rare Marvel Comics movie that sold well at the box office in 2023. The global box office of "Grievance 3" also reached $190 million, almost the same as the first two films, showing the high popularity of Denzel Hayes Washington Jr.. As for "Napoleon" released at the end of the year, it is not a box office success in itself. After all, the production cost of the film is as high as 200 million US dollars. However, this huge sum of money basically comes from Apple with deep pockets, and Sony is only responsible for issuing, and the package will not be compensated.

In 2024, as usual, Sony will have a wave of new films such as Ghostbusters: The Frozen City, Garfield, Mrs. Spider: Super Awakening, Kraven the Hunter, Venom 3, etc., and the box office should make a breakthrough.

Paramount

Wins: Scream 6 ($108 million), Wang Wang Team 2 ($65 million), Teenage Ninja Turtles: Mutant Fight ($118 million).

Negative: Mission Impossible 7 ($172 million) and Dungeons and Dragons: The Glory of Grand Theft Auto ($93 million).

2023 is really a year to break the Hollywood convention. Not only has the invincible superhero movies been beaten, but even Tom Cruise, which has always been a box office guarantee, has experienced the existential crisis of Lian Po’s old age.

Before the release of "Mission Impossible 7", almost everyone expected that it would be Tom Cruise’s second successful summer file after "Top Gun 2". As a result, "Mission Impossible 7" failed to ignite the enthusiasm of North American people for watching movies on the first weekend, and was quickly defeated by Barbie and Oppenheimer. The most deadly thing is that the epidemic pushed the production cost of the film up to an astonishing $291 million, which caused it to bear an excessive burden before it was released.

Dungeons and Dragons: Glory of Grand Theft Auto poster

The box office failure of Dungeons and Dragons was also somewhat unexpected. After all, the film was adapted from a powerful game IP, and the audience’s reputation after the screening was very good, but perhaps because of the schedule, there was still a lack of enough audience to join in, which made this $150 million film unable to break even.

In the whole year, Paramount released a total of 10 films, with a box office of just over $800 million, accounting for about 9.6% of the total box office in North America, ranking fifth, far below the market share of 17.6% in 2022 with the blessing of Top Gun 2.

In 2024, Paramount will release some blockbuster new films, such as Gladiator 2, Transformers: The First Generation and Sonik the Hedgehog 3, which is expected to turn the tide.

Taylor Swift: Time Tour Concert Poster

In addition to the above-mentioned five Hollywood giants, Lionsgate Pictures, which took 6.55% of the market share, ranked sixth in the annual box office in North America. They released 12 films in the whole year, and "Fast Chasing 4" ranked ninth in the annual single box office in North America with $187 million. Further back, the independent film "Voice of Freedom", which is not unusual in shooting, distribution and publicity, won $184 million at the box office, which just squeezed into the tenth place in the annual single-chip box office list in North America.

Taylor Swift: Time Tour Concert, with the same maverick distribution model, earned $179 million at the box office, ranking 11th in the annual single-chip box office list in North America. Independent films like this broke into the top of the annual box office list for more than ten years, which seems to reflect the coming of the unprecedented changes in Hollywood in N years.

　　Our reporter Gu Mengxuan Xia Xin reports from Guangzhou and Beijing.　

　　Recently, the international gold price hit a record high and was quickly sold off, causing a sharp drop. The price of gold denominated in RMB has also fluctuated greatly, which has aroused widespread concern in the market.　

　　On December 4th, the price of gold futures in new york market once rushed to the $2,150 mark per ounce, with an intraday increase of over 3%, setting a record high. Subsequently, the price of gold quickly fell back, and as of the 7 th, the cumulative correction per ounce exceeded $100.　

　　Affected by this, the gold Au99.99 listed on the Shanghai Gold Exchange fell back after it surged to 487 yuan per gram on the 4th, and the retail price of some domestic brands of gold jewelry stood at the high level of 630 yuan per gram and then fell back to about 615 yuan per gram on the 7th.　

　　According to Wind data, on December 15th, the New York Mercantile Exchange gold futures price was reported at 2018.3 USD/oz; As of press time, the gold Au99.99 listed on the Shanghai Gold Exchange is 472.99 yuan per gram.　

　　Welcome to a loose inflection point　

　　Regarding the correction of gold price, Wang Xiang, fund manager of Bosera Fund Index and Quantitative Investment Department, pointed out that the Fed’s interest rate hike cycle tends to end, which will usher in a loose turning point. Gold benefits from the downward logic of liquidity easing and real interest rate. Historically, similar policy nodes have strong price support power. However, there is a profit-taking impulse near the historical high point, and the net long position of short-term COMEX futures fund is too fast, so there is a need for adjustment.　

　　At 3: 00 am on December 14th, Beijing time, the Federal Reserve issued the statement of the FOMC meeting in December 2023 (the Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates), and once again announced the suspension of interest rate hikes.　

　　According to the data provided by Bosera Fund, inflation expectations in the United States have dropped significantly. In December, the consumer confidence index of the University of Michigan rose to 69.4, with an expectation of 62. The inflation expectation dropped significantly, with the one-year inflation expectation dropping from 4.5% to 3.1% and the five-to ten-year inflation expectation dropping from 3.2% to 2.8%. "This combination is not good for precious metals." Wang Xiang said.　

　　As for the rise in the price of gold in the early stage, Bi Mengyu, an investment researcher at Geshang Caifu Jinyu, pointed out that gold, as a non-interest-bearing physical asset, often ushered in rising opportunities when other assets had poor returns.　

　　First of all, from an economic point of view, the global economy is currently in recession. In view of the worries about the economic downturn and the stock market decline, driven by risk aversion, investors are more willing to buy gold to avoid risks, leading to the rise of gold prices. In November, the global manufacturing PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) was 49.3, the US manufacturing PMI was 46.7, and the Eurozone manufacturing PMI was 44.3, all of which were below threshold, reflecting the overall global economic downturn.　

　　Secondly, last week, the ADP data in the United States (an economic indicator commonly used to measure the job market) failed to meet expectations. The market speculated that the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates in December, that is, the nominal interest rate showed a downward trend with a high probability, which made the price of gold rise again.　

　　Finally, global central banks continue to purchase gold, and the demand for gold purchase by global central banks will remain strong in 2023, which supports the upward trend of the overall price of gold.　

　　"The adjustment of gold this week was mainly due to the rising interest rate of the US dollar index and US debt after the US non-farm payrolls data exceeded expectations, and coupled with the’ hawkish’ signal released by the Federal Reserve Chairman, the price of gold fluctuated downward." Bi Mengyu said.　

　　The annualized compound yield of gold is 7%　

　　The reporter noted that in August this year, the trend of domestic and international gold prices deviated greatly. In recent months, has the excessive price difference between the internal and external markets of gold prices been corrected?　

　　Wang Xiang pointed out that in September this year, the price difference between domestic and foreign countries was the highest, 30 yuan+/gram, and at present, the price difference has largely converged to 7 yuan/gram, but it is still far from the historical 95% confidence fluctuation range of 1.2~1.8 yuan/gram. In the process of convergence, the performance of domestic gold price will be worse than that of dollar gold.　

　　Bi Mengxuan pointed out that the international gold price and the domestic gold price are basically in a positive correlation, but due to the influence of pricing system, rate and time lag, they may deviate in the short term, and the domestic gold price fluctuation is often lagging behind. After several months of adjustment, the international and domestic gold prices have basically converged.　

　　Central banks around the world have also shown sustained enthusiasm for buying gold. According to the data of the World Gold Council, in 2023, the global central bank’s demand for gold purchases remained strong, reaching 387 tons in the first half of the year, a record high in the same period; In the first three quarters, the amount of gold purchased reached a record 800 tons, a year-on-year increase of 14%. At the same time, the data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange showed that at the end of November, the gold of the Bank of China had increased for the 13th consecutive month.　

　　In this regard, Bi Mengyu pointed out that the central bank’s allocation of gold mainly considers security, liquidity and return. First of all, gold is regarded as a safe asset and a value-preserving asset by the central bank, because it is more stable in the face of credit risks than other assets such as national debt; Secondly, gold has strong liquidity, and the central bank can quickly enter the market without distorting the price; Finally, although the return is not the main motivation for the central bank to buy gold, the annualized compound rate of return of gold has been around 7% in the past few decades, providing investors with relatively considerable returns.　

　　"The proportion of gold in China’s foreign exchange reserves is still low. Although it has been continuously increased, the current proportion is still less than 6%, which is still far from the proportion of more than 40% in European and American countries." Wang Xiang said that increasing the proportion of gold in foreign exchange reserves will help to diversify the reserve structure and maintain the stability of local currency and asset prices during the contraction cycle of the US dollar.　

　　Rational investment by investors　

　　Regarding the future market of gold assets, Nuoan Fund pointed out that due to the issuance of bonds by the US Treasury, the reduction of US debt holdings by the Federal Reserve and the current strong economic expectations, it is expected that the long-term yield of US debt will remain high, and short-term gold will still be suppressed by interest rates and the US dollar index. However, we expect that the signs of economic slowdown in the United States may be more obvious in the first half of 2024, and high interest rates and recent geopolitical risks may increase the volatility of financial markets compared with the previous period. The logic of gold investment gradually shifts from short-term safe-haven demand to medium-and long-term Fed interest rate cuts. Recently, the market expects the Fed to cut interest rates, which has significantly boosted the price of gold, or it is expected to change more by pricing. It is suggested that investors should actively pay attention to the trend of gold price and consider the proportion of gold allocation to grasp the investment opportunity of gold.　

　　Wang Xiang said that whether inflation converges smoothly, leading European and American monetary policies to shift to liquidity logic, or inflation rises again due to unexpected events, taking stagflation logic, different macro paths are beneficial to the gold margin, making it still one of the assets with high certainty, and the only difference is the difference in odds. Next year is an election year for many economies, and the intensity of geo-game may remain at a high level, which is also conducive to the rise of the price center. The upward target of USD gold is USD 2,200 ~ 2,400, which is about 515~550 yuan/g in China.　

　　"It is normal for the regional fluctuation of gold prices to increase near historical highs. Investors should neither be overly enthusiastic in the overbought state of the market, nor completely lose confidence after their breakthrough failure." Wang Xiang pointed out that in the medium and long term, the easing of the Federal Reserve and the weakening of the US dollar will remain a high probability path next year. With many economies entering the election year, the intensity of geo-game will remain at a high level. After the short-term selling sentiment is released, gold will return to its long-term upward path again.

Special feature of 1905 film network 　 The film that will land in the Lunar New Year archives on December 29th recently held its first press conference in Beijing. Chen Kexin and Wu Junru appeared as producer and director respectively, and with the blessing of Mahua FunAge, the national expectation value of this film increased greatly.

　

I just suddenly felt something was wrong, huh? Isn’t Ceng Guoxiang the director of this film? How did it become Wu Junru’s directorial debut? Isn’t she the producer+starring? In addition, it has been rumored that the starring papi sauce is also a screenwriter of the film. How did this suddenly change people?

Papi sauce’s real name is Jiang Yilei

　

Of course, at that time, the film was also called "Sister Ling made a scene in your house", but no matter from the main lineup or the previous promotional film, it was definitely the same movie as "YaoYaoYaoLing".

　

We all have good memories. Don’t think that if we change our names, we won’t know you!

　

Here, Brother Dao just wants to ask the film side, who made this film and who made it up? After all, "YaoYaoYaoLing" is about to be released in the mainland, but the audience has to spend real money to buy tickets, so how can they have the right to know?

　

So, when did this Rashomon begin? Come on, draw a key point:

　

Some netizens found out that the words "New Works Produced by Chen Kexin and Directed by Ceng Guoxiang" were left in the synopsis column on the Douban platform of "YaoYaoling".

　

The screenshot of the watercress information of the earliest "Sister Ling makes a scene in your house" was not intercepted, but when some netizens took a screenshot the day before yesterday, the name of "Sister Ling makes a scene in your house" has changed to another name of "Yaoyaoling", and the director of the film has turned into Wu Junru, but in the synopsis, it still says "the new work directed by Ceng Guoxiang", and the screenwriter column is still papi sauce (real name is Jiang Yilei).

　

The previous Douban entry of YaoYaoLing

　

The latest entry of YaoYaoLing

　

Of course, the synopsis of Douban has been updated to the latest version, and the writers have been replaced by Zhou Yunhai, Muchun Zha and Wang Yixing.

　

Ceng Guoxiang’s studio photos exposed by various actors were always there from the beginning of filming to the end of filming.

　

Boot photo

　

Studio photo

　

Killing photos

　

Zhang Yi, the leading actor, once wrote an article in his WeChat WeChat official account, mentioning that Ceng Guoxiang was the film director. At that time, the title of Chen Kexin and Wu Junru were more clearly defined, so how could it not arouse the speculation of us "people who eat melons"?

　

On January 27th, 2017, actor Zhang Yi made it clear in his New Year message that he had devoted himself to the filming of "Sister Ling makes a scene in your house", which was produced by Chen Kexin and Wu Junru and directed by Ceng Guoxiang.

　

As the star of the film, it is impossible for Zhang Yi to sign a contract. He has been filming on the set. I still don’t know who the director is, right?

　

Love Zhang Yi, this "real hammer" has not been deleted.

　

If all this is not enough to prove that Ceng Guoxiang is the director of this film, then look at the photo carefully, and you will find the words [Director: Ceng Guoxiang] impressively in the photo.

　

Then how did Ceng Guoxiang get out?

　

Conjecture 1

　

The film style can’t be discussed properly, the director loses the dominant position in the film, and Ceng Guoxiang is forced or takes the initiative to out.

　

In April this year, before the screening of the feature film, there was a propaganda film "Sister Ling made a scene in Meng Gui Fang". At that time, the name of the director did not appear, and the positions of Chen Kexin and Wu Junru were only producer. It seems that at that time, the film has decided to abandon Ceng Guoxiang, but as for who will take over, it has not been decided yet. Of course, this is also a wild guess by Brother Dao. If it is right, it is purely a coincidence.

　

This earlier version of the promo is quite different from the first trailer recently exposed by YaoYaoYaoLing. "Ling Jie makes a scene in Meng Gui Fang" is full of Hong Kong flavor, full of Hong Kong retro style. YaoYaoLing is closer to the aesthetic habits of mainland audiences.

　

In fact, as early as April 9th this year, Ceng Guoxiang accepted a question from the 1905 Film Network at the Hong Kong Celebration. At that time, he clarified that "Sister Ling made a scene in Meng Gui Fang" was not his work, and this collaboration with Chen Kexin was just to help. Ceng Guoxiang also said that as a creator, it is most important to find the story he wants to shoot, and he prefers to shoot the story he wants to express.

　

From this point of view, it is also possible that Ceng Guoxiang lost the leading role of "Sister Ling makes a scene in your house", which led to the final style and direction of the film, which was quite different from Ceng Guoxiang’s expectation. In the end, Ceng Guoxiang could only give up the film voluntarily.

　

Conjecture 2

　

There was a help agreement before, saying, "we are logging tired", and the director changed people?

　

Two days ago, at the press conference of YaoYaoLing, Chen Kexin and Wu Junru kept silent about the beginning and end of Ceng Guoxiang out, and they shared the interesting story of shooting YaoYaoLing — — Wu Junru laughed and said that the couple had quarreled for an hour in the bathroom on the set because of the film, while Chen Kexin admitted that during the process of "supervising the work", parents often felt like protecting their children.

As for Ceng Guoxiang, in addition to publicly thanking her husband Chen Kexin for his advice, Wu Junru singled out another person who gave him a lot of help, that is, Ceng Guoxiang, a new Hong Kong director.

　

Most mainland audiences are familiar with the name Ceng Guoxiang, which should begin with the painful youth love film July and An Sheng, which was a great success in 2016. This work also helped Zhou Dongyu and Sandra win the Golden Horse Award for Best Actress, and director Ceng Guoxiang also won many awards and nominations. Chen Kexin is one of the producers of July and An Sheng. At that time, there were various reports praising Chen Kexin for taking the new director.

　

When YaoYaoLing was also called "Sister Ling made a scene in Meng Gui Fang", many media reported that Chen Kexin once again escorted the new film directed by Ceng Guoxiang.

Now, the play is finished and will be released, but Ceng Guoxiang has changed from a director to a friend to help!

　

In Ceng Guoxiang’s Weibo message, many fans who eat melons also raised the same question. Ceng Guoxiang also responded to this matter in Weibo: "We are all a family, please call me whenever you have something". When we later asked the film propagandist for proof, the other party also gave the answer of "family".

　

In the film industry, especially in Hong Kong, there are still many stories about "one family" helping each other. Take Chen Kexin, the producer of this film, as an example. When he created the film, he personally certified the Hong Kong director Liu Weiqiang to help him a lot. In the "Golden Harvest Prosperity" in the 1980s, Sammo Hung, as the eldest brother, also gave Jackie Chan and others similar assistance in the early creative stage. It can be said that the friendship of "family" can be regarded as a special "culture" passed down in this circle.

　

Only this time "YaoYaoYaoLing" is different. After all, at the beginning of shooting, the starring role of this film has been sealed, and Ceng Guoxiang is the director. However, on the eve of the release, the director changed the controlling person from the film to a passerby who helped, which is not the same as the so-called clear help between the two sides. However, it is obviously unreasonable for the film side to explain it with only one sentence: "we are logging tired".

　

The director was changed, which is nothing new in the film circle. In the early years, there were media reports that Chen Kexin replaced the original director Chen Desen, and Liu Weiqiang was the top one. However, rumors are always difficult to get a positive response from the parties, but time has proved everything. No matter what is right or wrong, the director of guillotines is Liu Weiqiang.

　

"Family" is a good word, and "family" seems to be kind to direct a movie. But today, when we pay more and more attention to intellectual property rights, even a "family" wants to know how everyone divides their work in the movie and doesn’t want to bury anyone’s talent.

　

For what reason did Ceng Guoxiang, who has been following the "Sister Ling" crew to the final stage, quit this project? Since he helped a lot, why didn’t the director Wu Junru+Ceng Guoxiang? How much did Wu Junru shoot and how much did Ceng Guoxiang help?

　

Brother Dao thinks that the film has an obligation to explain to the public that, after all, the audience is the one who ultimately spends money, and the director is also an important indicator for the audience to enter the cinema.

　

Finally, I also wish the YaoYaoLing, which will be released in the mainland on December 29th, a big sale.

Baidu "Cambodia Bar" is involved in gambling recruitment information.

With "spinach" and "Xiaobai" as code words, Baidu’s post bars are accused of spreading overseas casino recruitment information, recruiting casino promoters, and tricking Chinese people into participating in online gambling in Cambodia and other countries.

A few days ago, some netizens reported to www.thepaper.cn/consumersComplaint.jsp, a complaint platform of The Paper Quality Report, that there were a lot of casino recruitment information in the "Cambodian Bar" of Baidu Post Bar.

According to the investigation in www.thepaper.cn, The Paper, there are a lot of gambling information in Baidu Post Bar, such as Phnom Penh Bar, West Port Bar and Work Bar in Cambodia, with the code words of "recruit push, white", "new handicap, interested private chat", "coordinate west port and Bobei".

The Paper reporters made unannounced visits as applicants. Some posters claiming to work in Cambodian gambling companies said that the personnel they recruited in Baidu Post Bar were mainly engaged in "promotion" work, that is, chatting online, mostly in the name of talking about male and female friends, to trick domestic people into participating in online gambling.

"The more he (the gambler) recharges, the higher your commission. If this thing doesn’t win, it will only lose. If you come, you will be trapped." The poster said.

On the afternoon of May 10th, a staff member of Baidu’s docking domestic media told The Paper that he needed to give feedback to the relevant departments about posting gambling information on the Post Bar, and make a clear investigation before replying.

Before the press release, The Paper checked Baidu’s "Cambodian Bar" again, and there were still a large number of recruitment information released by gaming companies; Baidu has not yet responded to this.

Xing Xin, a lawyer, believes that Baidu Post Bar, as a network operator, should immediately stop transmitting such information, prevent information from spreading, and keep records and report to the relevant authorities.

In addition, lawyer Lou Jing said that if Chinese citizens gather to gamble and open casinos in the surrounding areas outside our country to attract domestic citizens as the main source of tourists, which constitutes a crime of gambling, they can be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Law.

Baidu "Cambodia Bar" is involved in gambling recruitment information.

Baidu "Cambodia Bar" has become the hardest hit area of "spinach"

On May 8, a netizen in Guangdong reported to The Paper that Baidu’s "Cambodia Bar" published a large number of recruitment information of gaming companies, and this kind of recruitment lured Chinese personnel to Cambodia to engage in gambling-related work by means of "selling heads and getting commissions".

The netizen reported that most of the gambling companies in Cambodia are run by Chinese, and he is currently detained by the company and cannot return to China. However, The Paper contacted the netizen many times, and his phone has been unable to get through.

The Paper noted that Baidu’s "Cambodia Bar" has more than 280,000 followers, and at present there are more than 4 million posts in the post bar. Most of the published contents are "A large number of recruitment and promotion", "Welcome to consult, solve all problems and concerns for all of you, and hope to help all of you who come to Cambodia", "Coordinate Westport, which is developing into a big company, and welcomes all kinds of suspected gambling recruitment information such as Xiaobai and job-hopping personnel".

At the same time, in this post bar, posters often use argots such as "spinach" to replace words such as "gambling". A similar situation exists in Baidu Post Bar, such as Phnom Penh Bar in Cambodia, West Port Bar in Cambodia and Work Bar in Cambodia.

The ID address of the poster in the post bar involved shows that most of them come from domestic provinces and cities. Some posters claim that they are already employees of Cambodian gaming companies. They mainly publish content including recruitment information and working experience in Cambodia.

On May 9th, The Paper released job information as a "job seeker", and received nearly 100 replies in one day, mainly including "Add me to know", "How to contact you", "Group mode, resources provided by the company" and so on.

Through the micro-signal left in the post, a self-proclaimed "Baisha" who works for a gaming company in Cambodia told The Paper that his company holds a legal gaming license from the local government in Cambodia, and the gaming games are all lottery tickets that can be seen in China, such as "Fucai 3D, 11-choice 5, Chongqing Time Lottery", and players can make bets through the website platform.

According to the company recruitment brochure provided by Baisha, the company is now recruiting a large number of talents who can "skillfully operate computers and type more than 45 words per minute" in front desk, online customer service, promotion, personnel and other positions, with the basic salary and job requirements of each position.

In the next few days, according to posters such as "Baisha", in fact, they released such recruitment information, mainly by recruiting "promoters" to lure Chinese people to participate in online gambling in Cambodia. The more gamblers lose, the higher the commission of promoters.

Baidu "Cambodia Bar" is involved in gambling recruitment information.

"Promoters" lure people to gamble in the name of talking about boyfriends and girlfriends.

Another poster, "Meng Jie", also claimed to work for a gaming company in the western port area of Cambodia. He told The Paper that his main job is to "attract people and recruit people", and other positions in the company, such as "promotion", "just sit there and chat every day and fool others into gambling".

According to Meng Jie, the objects of "fudge" are divided into two categories. One is that Cambodian gambling companies directly give employees "resources". These "resources" are generally domestic gambling addicts; "Resources" means that gambling companies spend money to buy information from China and then "wash it out".

For some gambling companies without "resources", "promoters" are needed to attract people.

"To put it bluntly, the girl just wants to fool the man. You are his girlfriend, so that he is willing to register with us and gamble. The more he recharges, the higher your commission. If you don’t win this thing, you will only lose." Meng Jie said.

"Male promotion" usually pretends to be a woman to "attract people" and "entice people by sending some messages, and finally make them willing to gamble." Meng Jie said that these gambling companies in Cambodia all require employees not to participate in gambling, and once they are found, they will be fired.

Meng Jie said that he worked in a gambling company in Cambodia for half a year and pulled more than 30 people from China. Usually, the recruitment information is mainly posted on the Internet. The air tickets and accommodation expenses of candidates are paid by Cambodian gaming companies, and there are also special people to pick them up after arriving in Cambodia.

However, as soon as new applicants arrive in Cambodia, their passports will be taken away. "Because the company is afraid that you won’t be able to do it for a long time, the air tickets and accommodation fees paid in the early stage hit Shui Piao."

Bai Sha said that three months ago, he saw the recruitment information in Baidu Cambodia Bar. Because he "had debts at home, there was no way to decide to go to Cambodia". He said that he was caught in a trap. "Work is not as good as expected. You are caught in a trap. People who come to work here are forced to do it. Most of them are Chinese. After all, the boss is also Chinese, doing domestic business."

Baisha said that there are many small companies under his gaming company group, and a small company is called a handicap. There are more than a dozen handicaps under the group. There are 200 to 300 people in his handicap, and the employees are basically Chinese. Now the group’s handicap is still expanding, and they need to recruit a large number of people from China for the company.

Lawyer: Opening a casino abroad to attract Chinese citizens also constitutes a gambling crime.

On the afternoon of May 10th, a staff member of Baidu Company docking domestic media told The Paper that it was not clear about the gambling recruitment posted by Post Bar, and he needed to give feedback to relevant departments first, and then reply after investigation.

The Paper learned that opening a casino in Cambodia requires an application from the local government, and only after obtaining a business license issued by the Cambodian government can the casino legally exist.

Xing Xin, a lawyer of Hunan Jinzhou Law Firm, believes that according to the relevant provisions of China’s Cyber Security Law, Baidu Post Bar, as a network operator, should strengthen the management of information released by its users. If it finds information prohibited by laws and administrative regulations from being released or transmitted, it should immediately stop transmitting the information, take measures such as elimination, prevent information from spreading, save relevant records, and report to the relevant competent authorities.

In addition, regarding the casinos opened by Chinese people in Cambodia, Xing Xin believes that according to the Interpretation of the Supreme People’s Court and the Supreme People’s Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Specific Application of Laws in Handling Gambling Criminal Cases, if Chinese citizens gather to gamble and open casinos in the surrounding areas outside our country in order to attract Chinese citizens as the main source of tourists, which constitutes a gambling crime, they can be investigated for criminal responsibility in accordance with the provisions of the Criminal Law and be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention control or fines.

Lou Jing, a lawyer of Beijing Yingke Law Firm, said that such casinos were set up abroad to avoid the criminal accountability of China public security organs and the application of China’s criminal laws, but China citizens can still commit crimes if they commit acts prohibited by China’s criminal law abroad.

Lou Jing believes that according to the first paragraph of Article 7 of the Criminal Law, "People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizens who commit crimes stipulated in this law outside the territory of People’s Republic of China (PRC) shall be subject to this law, but if the maximum penalty stipulated in this law is fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, they may not be investigated."

Lou Jing said that if most of the gamblers who bet on the websites of Cambodian gambling companies are Chinese, and the settlement and circulation of gambling funds also occur in China, and some criminal acts are committed in China, they can be regarded as criminal acts according to China’s criminal law.

On the afternoon of May 15th, The Paper browsed the Baidu Post Bar again and found that there were still a lot of gambling-related recruitment information. Before the deadline for publication, The Paper repeatedly called the switchboard of Baidu Company, but the line was busy. Baidu has not yet responded to this.

Case: Opening a casino overseas to attract Chinese people to gamble was sentenced to three years and six months.

On May 15th, The Paper searched the non-litigation network with the keywords of "opening a casino overseas" and "online gambling", and found that there were five related criminal proceedings, including four judgments in the first instance and one ruling in the second instance.

In the five judgments, all the defendants were sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from one year to three years and six months, and fined a certain amount for opening a casino abroad for the purpose of making profits, soliciting and organizing China citizens to the scene or conducting online gambling.

A judgment of the People’s Court of pinghu city, Zhejiang Province on September 19, 2018 shows that the defendant Liu and others organized domestic people to gamble abroad and settle their gambling funds in China by opening casinos in Laos and other places, or used the Internet and mobile communication terminals to transmit gambling videos and data and organize gambling activities. The accumulated gambling funds were more than 67 million yuan, which is a serious case. His behavior has constituted the crime of opening casinos. The court of first instance made a ruling after trial and sentenced Liu to three years in prison.

In addition, a judgment of the People’s Court of Taoshan District, qitaihe city, Heilongjiang Province on December 29, 2016 also shows that when the public security organs investigated the Maizayang Maida Company in Myanmar in handling the mega-cross-border online gambling case, they found that Chen Mou and Liang Moumou from Maoming, Guangdong Province had successively opened new Asian and new international casinos in Maizayang, Myanmar.

After trial, the court held that the defendant Liu and others opened casinos abroad mainly to attract People’s Republic of China (PRC) citizens as the main customers, and used the Internet and mobile communication terminals to transmit gambling videos, organized domestic citizens to make dividends in online gambling casinos or serve as managers, or helped casinos collect and turnover gambling funds, or accepted bets from mainly domestic gamblers to earn illegal profits.

The Taoshan District Court of qitaihe city made a ruling in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law. The defendants Chen Mou, Liang Moumou and Liu Moumou were convicted of opening a casino, sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment ranging from three years to one year, and fined RMB 100,000 to 3 million, with suspended execution.