What Netizens Talked About Most During the ‘Two Meetings’

As the 2012 ‘Two Meetings’ (or the ‘Two Sessions’) close in Beijing, Sina News has created an infographic showing what topics and delegates users on the popular Weibo Chinese microblogging service referred to most when discussing the ‘Two Meetings’ between the 1st and 12th of March. Whilst the infographic has received praise for its design and being easy to understand, it’s also received accusations of not being completely accurate.

1. The proposals and bills netizens are debating most:

1. NPC representative Huang Xihua’s recommendation to lower the legal marriageable age to 18 – 201,792 mentions
2. NPC representative Han Deyun’s proposal for the seventh year in a row that a system be established to make officials publicly declare their financial assets – 139,272 mentions
3. CPPCC delegate Zhang Xiaomei’s proposal to extend public heating to the south – 111,030 mentions
4. NPC representative Xia Ji’en’s recommendation that mobile phone calls be charged by the second – 49,464 mentions
5. CPPCC delegate Xu Hao’s recommendation to shorten the length of primary and middle school schooling to cope with China’s aging population – 45,498 mentions
6. CPPCC delegate Zhan Guoshu and co-signers’ proposal to stop selecting “Three-Goods Students” – 32,538 mentions
7. CPPCC delegate Zong Licheng’s recommendation to issue RMB in larger denominations – 31,927 mentions
8. CPPCC delegate Feng Jicai and others’ proposal to ban the extraction of bile from living bears – 26,575 mentions
9. NPC representative Li Xinghao’s recommendation to allow the right to have a second child to be transferable – 22,266 mentions
10. CPPCC delegate Zhang Yimou and co-signers’ proposal calling for cinema ticket prices to be lowered – 15,512 mentions

2. The delegates receiving the most attention on Weibo:

1. Shen Jilan – 183,513 mentions
2. Zhang Xiaomei – 113,249 mentions
3. Chi Susheng – 104,932 mentions
4. Zhu Yanlai – 81,711 mentions
5. Huang Xihua – 77,724 mentions
6. Ge Jianxiong – 73,863 mentions
7. Yang Lan – 69,957 mentions
8. Feng Jicai – 68,034 mentions
9. Han Deyun – 67,713 mentions
10. Zong Licheng – 65,642 mentions

When netizens discussed the ‘Two Meetings’…

3. The most commonly used nouns:

1. weibo – 1,766,063 mentions
2. the people – 948,178 mentions
3. country – 786,410 mentions
4. government – 633,426 mentions
5. problem – 571,887 mentions
6. meeting – 514,337 mentions
7. journalist – 465,417 mentions
8. society – 463,632 mentions
9. government official – 391,367 mentions
10. economy – 314,806 mentions

4. The most commonly used verbs:

1. propose/recommend- 977,674 mentions
2. support – 454,842 mentions
3. follow/pay attention to – 414,198 mentions
4. reform – 236,148 mentions
5. participate – 236,013 mentions
6. debate – 235,678 mentions
7. oppose – 229,302 mentions
8. require – 206,412 mentions
9. develop – 199,344 mentions
10. legislate – 185,837 mentions

5. Most commonly used chengyu [idioms]:

1. 理直气壮: being right and self-assured as a result – 18,746 mentions
2. 春意盎然: spring is in the air – 12,630 mentions
3. 一年一度: annual – 10,443 mentions
4. 当务之急: first priority – 9,468 mentions
5. 实事求是: seek the truth from facts, be realistic and pragmatic – 7,601 mentions
6. 高屋建瓴: to be strategically situated – 5,586 mentions
7. 坚定不移: firm and unmoving – 5,404 mentions
8. 共商国是: to discuss important affairs of the state together – 4,709 mentions
9. 深入浅出: explain difficult concepts simply – 4,539 mentions
10. 滔滔不绝: to talk non-stop – 4,129 mentions

6. The central government bodies netizens most paid attention to during the ‘Two Meetings’ period:

1. Education Department – 69,484 mentions
2. Statistics Bureau – 34,860 mentions
3. Ministry of Finance – 19,813 mentions
4. Health Department – 17,6651 mentions
5. Ministry of Industry and Information Technology – 13,971 mentions
6. State Assets Administration Committee – 12,639 mentions
7. People’s Bank of China – 11,807 mentions
8. Audit Administration – 10,559 mentions
9. Ministry of Culture – 8,999 mentions
10. Development and Reform Commission – 8,412 mentions

7. The frequency with which different regions were referred to by netizens when discussing the ‘Two Meetings’:

1. Beijing – 1,179,154 times
2. Guangdong – 941,744 times
3. Shanghai – 787,760 times
4. Jiangsu – 454,484 times
5. Zhejiang – 408,713 times
6. Shandong – 218,817 times
7. Overseas – 210,011
8. Hubei – 180,318 times
9. Sichuan – 179,252 times
10. Fujian – 163,024 times
11. Henan – 154,907 times
12. Liaoning – 152,170 times
13. Anhui – 144,240 times
14. Hebei – 138,019 times
15. Chongqing – 125,393 times
16. Tianjin – 120,861 times
17. Shaanxi – 112,704 times
18. Hunan – 105,313 times
19. Guangxi – 76,392 times
20. Heilongjiang – 65,679 times
21. Jiangxi – 62,965 times
22. Shanxi – 62,493 times
23. Yunnan – 59,910 times
24. Jilin – 45,142 times
25. Inner Mongolia – 43,491 times
26. Hainan – 38,814 times
27. Xinjiang – 36,782 times
28. Gansu – 35,946 times
29. Guizhou – 33,706 times
30. Hong Kong – 26,219 times
31. Ningxia – 9,577 times
32. Taiwan – 6,416 times
33. Qinghai – 4,204 times
34. Macau – 2,092 times
35. Tibet – 2,038 times

Comments from Sina Weibo:

住十5楼的牛牛：

This analysis/breakdown is just brilliantly done~~~!

幸福多又多：

Wow, who made this? Fantastic job! It’s what us science students like the most!

鼻涕达：

Bullshit, Chongqing‘s what’s most people are talking about!

克式云：

Han Deyun, good!

常州小童：

These days whenever statistics like this come out, no one believes them. Just treat them like reading one’s horoscopes.

李晓明1986：

Very vivid image, done well.

忽涵乱宇：

The most popular delegates list is missing General Mao Xinyu! For this reason, I don’t really believe [these statistics].

大猪哥哥ZZ：

Surprisingly the most mentioned regions weren’t Chongqing, Tibet and Xinjiang?

千若弦：

The nouns should be: housing prices, income, reform. Government bodies should include Ministry of Railways. Regions is really obvious: Chongqing, Chongqing, Chongqing.

扯扯要工作：

Infographics these days are all so pretty.