China’s growing army of online influencers are gaining ever more sway over its consumer sector — and attracting Beijing’s attention in the process.
Influencers, also known as Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs) in China, help to sell products directly to consumers who watch their content on social media and live stream apps such as Douyin, Taobao, and Xiaohongshu. Promoting products from cleaning sponges to Dior handbags, KOLs have quickly come to dominate retail marketing. The KOL industry is dominated by celebrity live-streaming, which two years ago was estimated to be worth $30 billion.The China Association of the Performing Arts estimated it as $30 billion in 2020 and some analysts say it may top $100 billion in 2022.
However, the sudden online disappearance of three of China’s best known KOLs in recent months has sent a shiver through the industry, while the government’s introduction of a new code of conduct could complicate its future too. This week, The Wire takes a close
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Did Eric Dai expose a Chinese scheme to steal critical military technology? Or did he steal millions of dollars from a Chinese company by exploiting geopolitical tensions? It's not entirely clear, but Dai's saga hits all the high notes of current U.S.-China tensions, including convoluted plots to illicitly acquire U.S. semiconductor technology and extraterritorial schemes to harass, intimidate and coerce the Chinese diaspora. What is clear is that, for Dai, who founded a successful Chinese investment firm but is now seeking asylum in the U.S., it feels like World War III.
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