Huawei Furious as Sales Flop: Chinese Scramble to Buy iPhone 17!

Hate America but love American products. iPhone 17 launch creates a storm in China. Sold out within minutes. Huawei furious over poor sales. Criticized for low quality. Dark technology in Chinese food. From chicken feet and lotus root to mooncakes. Everything is fake and toxic. People are eating garbage every day. Beijing and Shenzhen in great depression. The sky fell overnight. People scavenge leftovers from trash bins, unable to survive. China drowns in $49 trillion debt. Real population far below. 1.4 billion. Financial collapse threatens Xi Jinping's imperial ambitions. Media reveals inside story of Liu Jianchao's case. Involvement in leaks, power struggles and sex scandals. You're watching Decoding China, where we bring you timely analysis and grounded perspectives on today's China. Hate America but love American products. iPhone 17 launch creates a storm in China. Sold out within minutes. Huawei furious over poor sales. Criticized for low quality. Chinese people are eagerly rushing to buy the newly launched iPhone 17. Bloggers filming the event reported, the moment Apple released its new product, the market went wild. Have you heard about it? Check out this video. It's truly astonishing. At Apple stores, the crowds lining up were overwhelming. Staff on site said the queue numbers had already reached capacity and they stopped allowing more people to join. Yet the crowds kept growing. The streets were packed. And even before reaching the store entrance, the lines stretched endlessly. As if an entire town had shown up to buy iPhones. Every September, Apple introduces a new model. And this year, the iPhone 17 immediately set off a frenzy. Despite widespread online criticism beforehand, people saying the design was unattractive or not innovative, the reality at launch was entirely different. The iPhone 17, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max were all quickly snapped up. Selling out within minutes. According to data from JD.com, within just one minute, iPhone 17 sales surpassed the total pre-orders on Tmall for the entire day last year. Tripling the volume compared to the previous generation. On Tmall, both the iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Max sold out in only two minutes. Many customers reported that even on Apple's official website, stock ran out instantly. And delivery dates were pushed back by three to four weeks. Meaning buyers would have to wait until mid to late October. What's striking is that while the iPhone 17 created massive demand, Huawei, hailed by the Chinese government as technologically far ahead, saw little interest. Videos circulated online showing Huawei stores nearly empty. Many netizens voiced frustration. Exposing serious problems with Huawei phones. The Hongmeng 5 operating system was accused of being riddled with bugs. Apps like WeChat and Touqiao constantly crashed, making the phones unusable. Some customers spent thousands of yuan on the Mate 70 Pro Plus, only to find that even the original charging cable would not work. These issues left many angry and disappointed. Amid the tense US-China relations, Beijing has frequently pushed anti-American rhetoric. Urging people to support domestic brands and boycott iPhones. However, the scenes of overcrowded Apple stores tell a different story. Chinese consumers are voting with their feet. They ignore the propaganda and are willing to spend over 10,000 yuan, about 1,400 USD, to own an Apple product. Many consumers openly admitted that compared to Android phones priced at 15,000 yuan, about 2,050 USD, but with inferior performance, the iPhone 17 was much better value. The new model came with a 120Hz display, fast charging, longer battery life by 8 hours compared to the previous generation, and a base storage of 256GB, all at the same price as before. One customer remarked, If I have 8,000 yuan, about 1,100 USD, I'll choose Apple over Huawei. An iPhone can last me years without needing replacement, but Huawei, not really. Meanwhile, Huawei has been accused of exploiting patriotism as a marketing tool. Many people bought Huawei phones not for their quality, but out of fear of being labeled unpatriotic if they chose iPhones instead. Yet growing voices argue that patriotism should not be equated with buying Huawei. Apple operates legally in China, pays taxes, and provides jobs, so buying an iPhone is not wrong. The contrast was further highlighted in Suzhou, where an Apple store was packed with customers despite the fact that iPhone 17 demo units were not yet available. Staff repeatedly told people they would have to wait until the 19th for hands-on experience, yet the crowd refused to leave. In stark contrast, domestic phone shops stood deserted. Despite heavy criticism online, Apple's appeal in China remains undeniable. Many experts say that iPhone and Tesla are prime examples showing that, regardless of state-driven anti-American campaigns, Chinese consumers still choose better, more reliable products. The record-breaking success of the iPhone 17 not only reaffirms Apple's dominance, but also highlights the stark gap between Huawei's propaganda of being far ahead and the actual quality of its products. Dark technology in Chinese food From chicken feet and lotus root to mooncakes, everything is fake and toxic. People are eating garbage every day. A blogger criticized the current state of food. China's high-tech junk is something even dogs won't eat, yet people ignorantly consume it with relish. High-tech junk refers to products made with excessive chemical additives, low-quality ingredients, and improper methods during food processing. Such food is ubiquitous in mainland China, seriously threatening the health of people. This is the so-called high-tech method of frozen chicken feet. First, hydrogen peroxide is poured directly onto them, creating a thick layer of white foam. Then a strong grease-removing detergent, commonly used to clean kitchens, is added. To make the chicken feet appear plump and thick, a chemical swelling agent is used. After just a few minutes of soaking, the chicken feet become instantly whiter and significantly larger. Compared with the original, the difference is truly like night and day. To outsiders, the dish looks fresh, glossy, and appetizing. But in reality, it has been completely transformed through industrial tricks. It doesn't stop at chicken feet. Other seemingly ordinary dishes are also full of manipulation. Take stir-fried lotus root, for example. In restaurants, the slices are often pre-treated with sodium benzoate and sodium bisulfite, preservatives, and bleaching agents. The pre-cut lotus root can be tossed quickly in a wok, and diners will assume it was freshly sliced. Thanks to the additives, the slices never turn black, no matter how long they are cooked. What appears fresh and natural is nothing more than a chemically engineered illusion. Bone soup is another classic example. Traditionally, a rich milky broth requires hours, even days, of simmering bones. But many eateries prefer the shortcut, pouring powders, flavorings, and whitening agents straight into the pot. As soon as it boils, the soup turns a milky white. Some vendors even boast, I simmered this broth for three days and nights. In reality, just a spoonful of condensed milk or chemical additives achieves the same look. Customers praise the taste, unaware that what they are eating is entirely artificial. Even traditional staples have not escaped this cycle of deception. Beer, soft drinks, milk, and soy sauce, many are counterfeit. Vinegar, a signature ingredient of Shaanxi cuisine, is often faked as well. At hot pot restaurants, apart from the pot itself, almost everything can be fake. Noodles, duck's blood, meatballs, fish balls, crab sticks, even ribs simmering in the broth. Diners believe they are enjoying a hearty meal, but in fact they are consuming chemical additives. Childhood favorites such as roasted corn or sweet potatoes are also being twisted by black technology. Just a packet of artificial flavoring is enough to flood an entire street with the smell of roasted sweet potatoes. Corn kernels, lacking sweetness, are enhanced with sweet corn essence. And mashed bananas can be mixed with durian flavoring to mimic durian flesh. Candied hawthorn skewers are coated with glass crisp agents to keep the sugar shell crunchy all day. These additives, small as they may seem, have completely altered the way people eat and erased authentic culinary traditions. The harm is not only in taste, but in health. Some diners report that after eating buffet barbecue, they felt bloated and abnormally thirsty, drinking bottles of water without relief. The body felt overheated even under air conditioning. This suggests that food was laced with additives that retain water and induce thirst, leaving the body in a state of discomfort. Deception permeates everywhere, from children's steaks made out of scraps and TG enzyme to tomatoes that refuse to rot but sprout green shoots inside. Even mooncakes for the mid-autumn festival are compromised. Salted egg yolks and fruit fillings are made from chemicals and artificial flavorings. People spend money for tradition, but end up consuming nothing but additives. What is most alarming is that this is not a few isolated incidents but a systemic issue. Analysts point out that the root cause lies in the CCP's governance system. Without true freedom of speech, without independent oversight, and with opaque government operations, there is no effective mechanism to solve the problem. Others argue that this food safety crisis reflects the broader collapse of Chinese social culture. By dismantling traditional values, the CCP has left society without any moral standards, where fraud and deceit flourish unchecked. Beijing and Shenzhen in Great Depression The sky fell overnight. People scavenged leftovers from trash bins, unable to survive. A blogger shared, Today marks the 229th day I've been unemployed, lying in my rented room. Many people are curious, some even message me, asking why I don't just go back to my hometown, where I wouldn't have to pay rent. Even though there I'd have my parents' care, a warm bed, and wouldn't have to worry about survival, they don't understand the invisible pressure behind those so-called caring questions. As an older single woman, being jobless at home for so long while neighbors' children are already successful, it's like a thousand tiny needles pricking me. But living in a rental is different. As long as I pay rent, I can keep the last bit of freedom to be myself in this small space. Unemployment is spreading rapidly as China's economy continues to decline. For young people, finding a stable job has become harder than ever. Instead of planning long-term, many now say their priority is simply to survive, openly sharing the philosophy of lying flat on social media. Some have even changed their daily habits. One female blogger said, After losing my job, I stopped buying clothes. Whatever I can still wear, I wear. I used to buy expensive outfits and shoes, but now I just want comfort. She added that she sold her car, no longer takes taxis or travels, and only relies on subways and buses. She also stopped paying social insurance and cancelled all her gym and salon memberships. If you're unemployed and have no money for food, go to a wholesale market near your home. Everyday vendors throw away vegetables they can't sell. Pick them up. That's zero-cost shopping. If you're jobless and hungry, what's there to be embarrassed about? On social media, countless videos of people in cities like Beijing and Shenzhen picking discarded vegetables have gone viral. Some markets even issued bans, citing negative impact. But that hasn't stopped people from seeing it as a desperate yet practical solution. A female blogger in Anhui shared that she pays 25,000 yuan, about 3,400 USD, each month for her mortgage. After watching young people post picking vegetables videos, she and her boyfriend tried it at Zhougatui Wholesale Market. They brought home a large bag full of potatoes, cabbages, peppers, celery, and more. Enough to cook several meals. Her boyfriend jokingly called it zero-cost shopping. But not everyone has been so lucky. Some had to stop after just a few days because their local market officially banned the practice. A woman in Xi'an said she lives with her husband and two young children in a rented room. When her husband suddenly quit his job without telling her, the family fell into crisis with rent, utilities, daycare, milk powder, and diapers all still to be paid. A 35-year-old blogger said he's been unemployed for over a year, still unmarried, and no longer planning to marry. I'm just taking life one day at a time. I have no idea where my future is headed. At 35, with no resources and no connections, being unemployed is basically a death sentence. Now every job listing has an age cap at 35. He added that big tech companies only want fresh graduates, while people like him are instantly rejected. The only remaining jobs are cleaning, security, courier work, and food delivery. Of those, only couriers and delivery drivers can earn about 5,000 yuan a month. Cleaning and security pay just 2,000-3,000 yuan with no days off. One netizen in Shenzhen shared his experience. I went to Huafu Market with my dad and managed to pick some eggplants, peppers, and greens. Enough for a day's meals. I even got lucky finding fresh bitter melon and vegetables that were just slightly damaged. That day I felt like I had a great harvest. Others, after years of stable work, found themselves suddenly adrift. A 39-year-old woman in Beijing said, I've worked in major internet firms for 16 years, but was laid off last year. Even though I finished paying off my mortgage, I still have two kids to raise. Thankfully, my parents helped me with their pensions and by taking care of my kids in Beijing. Without them, I wouldn't have survived. But I feel guilty. While other people's parents enjoy retirement, mine are nearly 70 and still struggling in Beijing to support their daughter. Another blogger said he worked at a factory for 12 days but never got paid. The contractor ignored all my messages. I feel exhausted with life. Powerless to do anything. Every day I just lie in my rented room, anxious and restless. Some kind-hearted netizens even messaged me offering job referrals, which I really appreciate. I just want a clerical job, nothing fancy, 3,000 yuan a month or more, and less than nine working hours a day. Many older Chinese compare the current wave of unemployment with the layoffs of the late 1990s. Back then, laid-off workers didn't have debts, no mortgages, no car loans, no credit cards. If you were willing to work, you could set up a street stall selling clothes or daily goods and get by. But now, with housing and car loans, plus kids in school, losing a job collapses the whole family system overnight. And even street vending isn't viable anymore. You'll get chased away by city inspectors, while e-commerce, online shopping, and livestream sales have already taken over. Today, the vegetable-picking craze has become more than just a survival tactic. It is a symbol of despair in society. One young woman from Hangzhou, born in the 1990s, broke down in tears in her video. At the wholesale vegetable market, I eat whatever I manage to pick up. That day, I was really upset. It's hard not to care about people's judgment. When I got home, I cried for a long time. We're just picking vegetables. Why should we have to endure such humiliation? China drowns in $49 trillion debt, real population far below. 1.4 billion financial collapse threatens Xi Jinping's imperial ambitions. According to official government data, by 2024, central government debt had reached 34.6 trillion yuan, while local government debt stood at 47.5 trillion yuan. In total, this amounts to 82 trillion yuan, 11.4 trillion USD, or about 61% of GDP. By April 2025, the central government added another 6.7 trillion yuan, and local governments added 5.2 trillion yuan. Altogether, China's debt climbed to nearly 94 trillion yuan, later revised upward to 99 trillion yuan, approximately 13.75 trillion USD. Compared to the U.S. with public debt at 123% of GDP, Japan at 250%, France at 111%, and Singapore at 168%, China's ratio may appear relatively healthy. But in reality, this is only the surface. In 2011, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, CAS, established the China National Balance Sheet Research Center, CNBS, the only body that regularly publishes national balance sheet data. These figures have become key references for the IMF, the World Inequality Database, and many international journals. Every quarter, CNBS releases leverage ratios for four sectors, households, non-financial enterprises, government, and financial institutions. In 2024, China's debt-to-GDP ratio reached 88%, with GDP surpassing 130 trillion yuan, 18.8 trillion USD. Debt was estimated at 115 trillion yuan. However, the National Urban Strategy Institute of Peking University reported in 2023 that the real debt had already hit 350 trillion yuan, 49 trillion USD. Meanwhile, government revenue in 2024 was only 22 trillion yuan, 3 trillion USD, meaning Beijing had essentially spent the equivalent of 20 years of future tax income in advance. China's debt is not only visible, but also exists in a massive gray zone. Local governments, when not approved by Beijing, resorted to financing vehicles and investment companies to borrow on their behalf, creating an enormous pile of hidden debt. The collapse of just one such enterprise could drag down many officials, since these companies often act as financial arms of the government. In 2023, Beijing set a local government debt ceiling of 42 trillion yuan, far short of actual expenses, forcing them to rely on these proxy borrowers. Officially, local debt was reported at just 14.3 trillion yuan, but the true figure was far higher. In September 2024, Beijing launched a massive 12 trillion yuan debt restructuring plan, turning hidden debt into visible debt, raising the ceiling, issuing special bonds, and postponing repayments on many projects. This raises the question, why does China spend lavishly on overseas investments, but remain frugal when it comes to local government debt? Analysts point to demographics. Independent studies and leaked data suggest China's real population may be closer to 900 million, not the often-claimed 1.4 billion. If this is true, then the theory often cited by Chinese scholars, debt is not really debt as long as the people remain, completely collapses. After all, the foundation for repaying debt is tax revenue from the population. If that base shrinks significantly, the government's ability to collect taxes and service debt also vanishes. Against this backdrop, Xi Jinping has intensified propaganda, staged grand military parades, launched internal purges, and armed the military. The CCP is said to rest on four pillars of rule. The gun, the knife, the pen, and the wallet. Yet it is precisely the homogenized rush into projects, from AI and electric vehicles to data centers, that has driven local governments into reckless borrowing. And when tax revenue falls short, Beijing seeks ways to draw funds from abroad. Investigations by journalists have revealed that criminal networks in the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand, involving fraud, gambling, drugs, and organ trafficking, have links to Chinese security officials. Hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars have been seized when these networks were exposed. At the same time, Beijing has ramped up its domestic anti-corruption campaign, with millions of officials investigated and vast sums of money confiscated. Yet these amounts are still insignificant compared to China's 350 trillion yuan mountain of debt. With constitutional term limits removed, Xi Jinping has effectively become an emperor. Known for grandiose ideas, Xi is surrounded by officials eager to please him, blindly pursuing his directives regardless of the consequences. This collective and reckless behavior has inflated China's debt, fueled corruption, and wasted resources. As a system built on the military, surveillance, propaganda, and privileged finance edges closer to collapse, the eventual downfall of the CCP seems inevitable, and Xi Jinping's imperial dream will shatter along with it. Media reveals inside story of Liu Zhenchao's case, involvement in leaks, power struggles, and sex scandals. On March 27th, 2024, Liu Zhenchao, Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Chinese Communist Party, CCP, attended the Future China Dialogue Forum at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. However, he has since vanished from the public eye for nearly a month and a half and was absent from the military parade in Beijing. Sources suggest that he may be implicated in leaking state secrets, entangled in personal scandals, and has become a casualty of fierce internal power struggles within the CCP. He is also suspected of being a long-time intelligence operative of the party. According to international reports, after concluding visits to Singapore, South Africa, and Algeria on July 30th, Liu Zhenchao returned to Beijing and was taken away for questioning in early August. His private residence was also searched. Although Liu's name still appears on the official website of the International Liaison Department, during the recent high-profile military parade, the duties of minister were carried out by Vice Minister Li Mingxiang. His disappearance became even more conspicuous during North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's visit to China in early September. In contrast to previous occasions, where the minister of the Liaison Department personally accompanied Kim, this time Li Mingxiang handled the reception, while Liu Zhenchao was nowhere to be seen. Many believe Liu's case goes far beyond a mere disappearance. Chinese scholar-in-exile Yuan Hongbing revealed that Liu Zhenchao was known for his promiscuous lifestyle. Fearing that foreign minister Wang Yi's faction would accuse him of corruption and misconduct, Liu allegedly sought to strike a secret deal with a major foreign power, offering sensitive CCP documents in exchange for a safe route of escape should he face political purge. However, his every move was already under the surveillance of CCP secret police. Reportedly, one of his female secretaries was actually an agent embedded in Xi Jinping's special system for monitoring officials. As a result, Liu's plan to defect was thwarted before it could even be carried out, and he was swiftly detained and placed under house arrest. Rumors circulating within Beijing suggest that after being detained, Liu Zhenchao insisted he was the victim of political persecution orchestrated by Wang Yi's faction, and he refused to confess. He also accused his female secretary of having an illicit relationship with Wang Yi himself. Observers note that the incident underscores the brutal infighting within the CCP's diplomatic system, where officials frequently undermine one another with allegations of corruption and sexual misconduct. Analysts emphasize that Liu Zhenchao was once personally selected and promoted by Xi Jinping. Yet, like former foreign minister Qin Gong, he is also rumored to have been an old agent trained during the 1980s when Beijing dispatched numerous students abroad under the cover of diplomacy. Former U.S. diplomat John Tkachuk confirmed that many such individuals, including Qin Gong, were in fact engaged in intelligence operations while working under diplomatic cover. Now, Liu Zhenchao's mysterious disappearance only deepens suspicions that he is the latest victim of CCP power purges, exposing the dark underbelly of China's diplomatic establishment. Your feedback matters. Share your views in the comments. If this content resonated with you, we invite you to share it with your network. Your continued support empowers us to pursue independent, high-quality journalism. Subscribe and like to stay up to date with Decoding China. Thank you for watching.