SIXTH TONE
SIXTH TONE
China’s Hottest Livestream Trend: Fraud
As the commercial livestreaming buzz fades, Chinese influencer agencies are searching for ways to keep viewing figures high. Many are turning to a tried-and-tested method: faking it.
About halfway through the livestream, Li Huida felt her chest tighten with panic. She’d begun to suspect she’d been conned.
Li, a marketing manager from the eastern city of Suzhou, had spent a small fortune to get a popular Chinese influencer to promote her company’s product a meal-replacement shake during a live show in mid-August.
It was a big risk, but Li had been confident it’d work out. Commercial livestreaming, after all, was a red-hot industry in China. Stars like Li “the lipstick prince” Jiaqi regularly sold millions of dollars in goods per broadcast.