An Ignoble Experiment: Two rivals connected by blood

The US supplies most of the world’s plasma. No country depends on it more than China

Illustration by Jason Lancaster/CNN

By CNN staff

As she watched the pale yellow liquid drip into her mother’s vein, Ge Lan felt the weight of every drop.

Her mother, recovering from stomach cancer surgery, relied on daily infusions of human albumin to restore her blood protein levels. At about $46 for a 10-gram bottle, the imported blood product was the costliest medicine in her mother’s treatment.

“I just hope (she) gets better soon,” the 44-year-old told CNN. “I’m worried about the money too, but I have no choice.”

Over two months, her mother used 72 bottles, costing the equivalent of seven months’ income for Ge, a local store worker in Henan, central China. Without help from her sister, she said she simply couldn’t have afforded the treatment – and without it, her mother’s condition could worsen.

China is the world’s biggest consumer of human albumin, the most abundant protein in plasma, which is widely used in care for critical trauma such as burns, and restoring blood protein levels from chronic conditions, like liver diseases.

But it’s long suffered a domestic shortfall largely due to strict rules on plasma collection – a legacy of an HIV infection scandal in the 1990s – and it remains heavily reliant on plasma from its biggest geopolitical rival, the United States, for much of its human albumin supply.

That reliance carries growing risks for Chinese patients.

Joyce Jiang/CNN

AI drama

Everything seemed to be business as usual as filming got underway on a dimly lit set in a basement in Hengdian, a town nicknamed “China’s Hollywood” for its sprawling complex of film studios.

Cameramen raced around setting up lights and checking shots as choreographers ran through fight sequences and a prop team worked out how to hoist a net that would later restrain a hostage.

Actors, most dressed as assassins and hitmen, milled about or squatted, smoking cigarettes and getting occasional touch-ups from roving hair stylists and make-up artists as they waited for their scene to start.

But behind the bustle was a new reality: while just a few months ago production of these so-called microdramas was flourishing in Hengdian and other hubs, today, these sets are falling quiet.

Seemingly overnight, new AI video generation tools have taken over the microdrama industry, able to produce these popular, vertical shows at a fraction of the cost, decimating the number of live-action productions across the country and flooding platforms with AI-made content.

More than 120,000 microdramas were released in the first three months of this year — with 95% of those generated by AI, according to Chinese state media.

Latest on China

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has vowed an “economic D-Day” for countries that buy oil from Iran. And while he didn’t drop any names, China is key among that group. But bringing Beijing, a critical economic lifeline for Tehran, on board with the White House’s latest effort to subdue Iran’s leadership will be an extremely tall order.

Once China’s richest man, Hui Ka Yan, the founder of embattled Chinese property behemoth Evergrande, was sentenced to life in prison last week on multiple charges, including fraud and misuse of funds. It completes a dramatic downfall for Hui, who emerged from humble origins during a turbulent political era, to climb to the highest levels of influence and wealth.

In Hong Kong, two key organizers behind annual vigils that commemorated the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre were found guilty of subversion. A third leader earlier pleaded guilty to the same charge. The former British colony used to be the only place on Chinese soil where such a large-scale commemoration was allowed – but not anymore.

Authorities in the affluent tech hub of Hangzhou have placed a senior executive and a public official under criminal detention for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman at a karaoke bar. Widely circulated online, the news puts a spotlight on China’s entrenched culture of work-related drinking, in which younger female employees often find themselves at boozy business dinners alongside men in powerful positions.

China space officials on Sunday postponed the launch of an unprecedented robotic mission designed to scour the moon’s south pole for water ice. It “cannot take place during the planned window this year,” the office said in a statement.

A humanoid robot beat Usain Bolt’s 100-meter record at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.

Tropical Storm Narra hit southwest China, bringing rain and floods and forcing thousands to leave their homes.

Meanwhile, one small and vocal corner on China’s internet has been claiming the country’s most famous historical dynasty never existed.