‘Moral kidnapping’: Is skipping Ne Zha 2 unpatriotic? Heated debate follows Chinese animation’s box office success

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SINGAPORE: In conventional Chinese tradition, he has been portrayed as a naughty child god, a dreadful warrior who had sacrifice himself to keep his family and country. &nbsp,

A modern rock hero and protector saints for misfits in culture, a theme that has recently had a strong impact on new decades of young Chinese moviegoers, has been reimagined in a fresh lively retelling. &nbsp,

” Nezha and I might share some traits. We both care about how other people see us”, said Yang Chenxi, a 17-year-old learner from the town of Huzhou who has watched Ne Zha 2 five times already. &nbsp,

This innovative active type was “different from the usual story” of a traditional Chinese figure, Yang told the China Daily newspaper. &nbsp,

Online, some have gushed about the writer’s quirks and traits: a flaming anger with a stubborn temperament, who also possesses awareness deep down and shows “filial devotion and kindness”. &nbsp,

” I hope I can also become like Ne Zha, the kind of person who is strong and capable, and dares to stand up for oneself,” said Qi Zai, a user on the well-known Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu.

Another Xiaohongshu user named Kaycee said,” The various iterations of Ne Zha have watched me grow up.” ” I hope that I will be able to “met” Ne Zha once more in the upcoming milestone in my life,” he said.

According to research fellow Sui Chuan at China’s Xiamen University of Technology, the animated transformation of the character is “in line with the spiritual aspirations of today’s youths and their determination to fight against labels.” &nbsp,

” This kind of modification breaks the character’s” sacredness “myth, enabling it to resonate with the audience”, she told China Daily. &nbsp,

Excited fans continue to spread the film on other Chinese social media platforms, including the microblogging site Sina Weibo, hoping that its success in China can be used to spread the message around the world.

There is also no shortage of praise for Ne Zha in the Chinese media, with glowing reviews of the movie’s success and support for Chinese patriotism and culture. &nbsp,

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As Xi meets top bosses like Jack Ma, what’s next for China’s tech sector amid US trade tensions?

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ASSESSING CHINA’S Goes

CMR’s Rein predicts that the symposium’s signs will” cause the capital market to go up again”, bolstering trust in both China’s A-shares and Hong Kong stocks.

He noted that some foreign investors now view America as being” too frothy,” while India has “dropped 20 %” in the last few weeks. They now have to wonder,” Where are we going?” This put money back into China”, Rein said. &nbsp,

Entrepreneurs can overcome” crippling” sanctions from the US and export bans, according to Rein, who believes that this shift is” creating excitement within China once more.”

In contrast, Guo cited DeepSeek, a technical success story that predated the symposium, as proof that main plans and personal development you go hand in hand, framing it as” a lot of work” from both the private sector and main plans over the past few years.

According to her, the event was intended to reassure business that “more support to the technology sector may come,” both on the supply side and the demand side.

Pointing to Xiaomi, Tencent, BYD, and Huawei, Guo underlined that “it’s use that provides income to these organizations and helps the Chinese firms to improve”.

Still, Zhang from UTS cautioned that state priorities around data security, antitrust enforcement, and digital assets remain. &nbsp,

The government has recently loosened regulations affecting the tech sector, which could prompt a rebalancing of industrial policies that balance market incentives with national strategic objectives.

Analysts don’t anticipate any immediate changes to existing policies despite positive signs of a warming position.

Deeper collaboration between private firms and state-owned enterprises will take time, CMR’s Rein noted.

” What I hope is there’s gonna be collaboration between the private sector and state-owned enterprises, and that’ll be concrete”, he said.

” Second, I hope that there’s gonna be more money raised to be given to those sectors. I don’t think there’s concrete stuff. It’s more a signal to everybody to go out and invest, go out and innovate” .&nbsp,

He noted that the Chinese government had already acted to stop the tech industry’s crackdown a year prior and began enacting regulatory changes to support the sector.

” It’s just nobody believed it. That’s the problem … ( people ) needed a signal more than concrete actions”.

Analysts predict that Beijing’s upcoming meetings of its legislature and top advisory body in March, or lianghui, will likely give a better understanding of its strategy.

Lianghui would be more about stimulus size and sector examples, remarked Guo from Hutong Research.

Meanwhile, Rein expects “more concrete measures” to be announced during lianghui to bolster the tech sector as well as “incremental, targeted stimulus measures”.

Measures will help foster confidence among entrepreneurs, businesspeople, and investors that the government supports the tech and private sector as growth drivers because China has a confidence problem, not one related to money supply.

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