Erinome: Hello everyone, welcome back to our daily news chat! I'm Erinome.
Enceladus: And I'm Enceladus. Let's see what's happening in the world today, you know that?
Erinome: Sure! First, the new Forbes China rich list is out. Zhang Yiming, Zhong Shanshan, and Ma Huateng are the top three. Lei Jun is tenth, and Jack Ma is eleventh.
Enceladus: Wow, the rankings change sometimes. But these tech leaders are still very rich, haha.
Erinome: Next, about house prices. A research group says in January, new home prices in 100 cities went up a little, 0.18%. But second-hand home prices went down, 0.85%.
Enceladus: Oh, so the market is mixed. Some up, some down. People buying houses need to be careful.
Erinome: Good news about taxes! From 2026, if you earn less than 1000 yuan each time, you don't need to pay value-added tax. The starting point is higher.
Enceladus: That's nice! It helps small earners and maybe street sellers, you know that?
Erinome: Also, from February, new rules about cash. If a shop refuses to take cash, or doesn't like cash, you can report it directly.
Enceladus: Good. Cash is still important for many people, especially older people. They should accept it.
Erinome: In Shandong province, they say they will seriously fix some work problems. Like having a "foxi" (佛系) mindset, "tangping" (躺平) state, or "bailan" (摆烂) work style.
Enceladus: Haha, those are popular words. They mean being too relaxed or not trying at work. It's important to work hard.
Erinome: Big news about a smart person. Wei Dongyi, the very good mathematician, has a new job. He is now a long-term associate professor at Peking University's math school.
Enceladus: Wow, he is so smart! This is a good job for him. Many students will be happy.
Erinome: About Chinese shipbuilding. The 2025 data is out. The amount of ships finished, new orders, and other important numbers are world number one for 16 years in a row!
Enceladus: That's amazing! China is really strong in making ships. It's good for the economy.
Erinome: For internet in the countryside, all towns and 95% of villages now have 5G. More than 200 million rural homes have broadband. Internet use in rural areas is over 69%.
Enceladus: That's great progress! Now people in villages can also use fast internet, watch videos, and learn online.
Erinome: Now about gold. The price of gold is moving a lot, up and down. Big banks like ICBC, ABC, BOC, CCB, and Bank of Communications gave warnings. They changed some rules about gold saving products.
Enceladus: Oh no, gold is not stable now. People who buy gold need to know the risk.
Erinome: Cryptocurrency market is also falling a lot. Bitcoin price went below 77,000 dollars. More than 420,000 people lost their money very quickly.
Enceladus: Sad. Cryptocurrency is very risky. The price can change so fast. People must be very careful.
Erinome: There is some news from other countries, but we will just talk about the main points. There is news about weather problems in the US, and some meetings about different places.
Enceladus: Yes, the world has many things happening. But for our talk, we focus on the main news we have.
Erinome: Okay, that's it for today's news chat. A lot of economic news, some about people, and some about rules.
Enceladus: Yes, thank you for listening, everyone. Remember to stay informed, but also stay safe and happy.
Erinome: Let's talk again next time. Bye!
