Opinion | 'Hello beautiful!' Xi Jinping's 'flirtatious' greeting surprises China
First Vice Premier stunned China watchers with his casual humour during a recent trip to America, and now President Xi Jinping has been heard calling a young woman "beautiful" in front of reporters
While journalists around the world reported the birth of a baby for Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, Chinese media on Tuesday were focused on President Xi Jinping, 59 - who was heard calling a young woman in central Wuhan city “beautiful” in front of reporters.
“This is definitely better than calling women “comrades,” a microblogger wrote. Often used by communist party members when referring to fellow cadres, the word "comrade" has now taken on a more popular meaning in China - “homosexual".
Guo, who was apparently exhilarated after her good looks were acknowledged by the president, told her work mates: “Who will dare not to call me a beautiful after this?,” media reports said.
While most people seemed to appeciate the casual way Xi greeted Guo, some were critical.