A video of a Chinese teacher hearing a 13-year-old student in her class claims that he owns a tech company in China has gone viral on mainland social media, but it has also sparked controversy because it is illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to operate a business in China.
In the widely shared video, a secondary school teacher from the Chongqing municipality in southwest China is seen giving students homework that asks them to write summaries on a classmate they believe to be successful.
Red Star News reported that when some students chose a classmate they claimed already owned a business, the teacher was surprised.
A 13-year-old student claims to be running a tech company in China with 6 workers.
The teacher surnamed Bai, asked her students in the video: “I heard that one of you is a boss who owns a company. Who is that?”
All the students turned to look at a teenage boy wearing glasses and a facial mask.
“It’s you, Boss Chen,” the teacher told the boy. “What kind of business is your company engaged in?”
“Internet technology,” replied the boy, who added that his company has five to six employees.
The boy said yes when Bai asked him if he paid his workers.
“How outstanding you are!” Bai said.
The story did not reveal the background of how the teenager came to run a company with paid staff while still attending middle school.
Many internet users were charmed by Bai’s video, which has been viewed 26 million times on Weibo and 10 million times on Douyin.
“He can apply for the Guinness World Record now as the world’s youngest boss,” one person joked.
“When his customer asks his employees, ‘Where is your boss?’, his employees must reply, ‘He will come after school is over at 5 pm’,” commented one person.
Another online commenter said: “This boss looks kind. I am wondering if his company has any vacancies as I’d like to apply for a job there.”
The video has also caused controversy in China, where the legal head of a business must be at least 18 years old.
The school where this student studies told the Red Star News that it is investigating the boy’s claim.
“He is definitely not the legal head of a company, and it’s impossible for him to be that. We are still trying to get more details,” a school spokesperson said.
Recently, several university students who launched their own businesses in their spare time were featured in local mainland media.
A Ph.D. candidate in southwest China revealed online in March that he had made more than 1 million yuan ($144,000) during his four years of undergraduate study by selling snacks, secondhand books, and farm products.
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