May 02, 2021
Handout
Stunned by the stark contrast with the average income of 32,189 yuan (US$4,971), the Chinese public struggled to understand why the figure was so high; she could buy a house after working for two days while it took others 30 years. A white-collar worker‘s annual salary could not match what she makes in a single hour.
Since then, Chinese tax authorities have opened an investigation into possible tax evasion by the star and the film and TV authorities declared they will enforce restrictions on excessively high payments in the industry.
The last time the industry received this much attention was in 2018, when former television host Cui Yongyuan exposed actress Fan Bingbing had received 60 million yuan (US$9.3 million) for one show but disguised it as 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) with dual contracts.