The Chinese city of Changchun has not printed its own currency, contrary to social media posts from accounts that often fan anti-China content. The posts misrepresented a photo of vouchers that a company reportedly gave staff instead of paychecks. Pictures of legal tender on the website of the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) — the country’s central bank that has sole authority to print money — do not include the supposed bills from Changchun.<\/h3>\n
A\u00a0screenshot<\/a> of the vouchers was shared on Chinese platform Xiaohongshu, known as RedNote in English, in a post that joked Changchun was “so awesome it can print its own currency” and that “part of workers’ salaries can be paid with it”.<\/p>\n The January 7 post — which was later deleted — showed a photo of a wad of vouchers valued at 50 yuan ($6.90) each.<\/p>\n Screenshot of the misleading post taken on February 4<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Workers in several Chinese provinces — including Henan, Hubei and Guangdong — protested in the lead-up to Lunar New Year celebrations in January for their employers to settle unpaid salaries, according to a\u00a0database<\/a> maintained by rights group China Labour Bulletin (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n China’s top court ordered lower courts to prioritise hearings involving unpaid wages ahead of the holidays and penalise companies that fail to pay workers on time, according to state news agency Xinhua<\/a> (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n China has so far failed to fully rebound<\/a> from the Covid-19 pandemic, with domestic spending mired in a slump and indebted local governments dragging on growth (archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n The photo spread on Facebook<\/a>, X<\/a> and China’s version of TikTok\u00a0Douyin<\/a>, prompting mockery towards Changchun authorities.<\/p>\n “Changchun is independent now,” one person commented.<\/p>\n “Grain, oil and pork ration vouchers may be introduced in the next stage,” another appeared to joke.<\/p>\n However, AFP found photos of the same vouchers in articles about a Changchun real estate developer who reportedly dolled them out to staff as a form of payment.<\/p>\n The Dazhong Zhuoyue Holdings Group used the vouchers to pay employees’ wages instead of cash, Chinese state-affiliated outlet\u00a0Jimu News<\/a> reported on January 6\u00a0(archive link<\/a>).<\/p>\n Jimu published photos of vouchers for various amounts, including the 50-yuan vouchers seen in social media posts, which show the names of two of the developer’s subsidiaries — Chongqing Road Vitality City Mall and Dazhong Real Estate — at the top.<\/p>\n‘No pay for months’<\/h3>\n