In China, 996 has not disappeared, but its advocates have generally been a lot quieter. A notable exception was Baidu’s one-time head of public relations, Qu Jing, who posted a series of videos on social media in 2024, aggressively defending a hard-working culture. Her brusque dismissal of employees’ wellbeing, with the comment “I’m not your mother, I only care about results” provoked outrage. She later apologised, but it ultimately cost Qu her job.
