On October 13, Marcus de Freitas, a visiting professor at the China Foreign Affairs University, said at the 2026 Beijing Forum on Swift Responses to Public Complaints that a few years earlier, he had left his AirPods in a ride-hailing vehicle. He tried calling the 12345 hotline, which provides English-language services, and two days later the driver delivered the earphones to his university.

In his opinion, a truly international city is defined by its ability to respond to everyone's concerns. The 12345 hotline reassured him that no matter what problem he encountered, there would always be someone on the other end of the line to help him resolve it. "This is the most basic form of trust between citizens and the government." He often tells his friends that living in Beijing is a really wonderful experience.