An influencer dubbed ‘China’s Kim Kardashian’ for his lavish life-style has been banned from Chinese social media for bragging about his wealth and opulence.
Wang Haongquanxing is not the only Chinese social media star who has disappeared from social platforms, as China’s government cracks down on ‘excessive wealth flaunting’ in its latest campaign to maintain its dominance over the country’s social media culture.
Wang and other influencers, known for posting pictures and videos of their extravagant way of life, were banned by several Chinese social media platforms last week after the Cyberspace Administration of China, the internet regulator, announced an effort against ‘creating ostentatious personas,’ last month.
Wang, who had around 4.3 million followers on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, has been known to boast about the level of his wealth, with his posts often featuring designer clothing ands accessories and frequent appearances at luxury fashion events.
He even said once in an interview that he never goes out unless he is wearing an outfit and jewels worth at least 10 million yuan (US$1.4 million).
He has also posted content of himself covered in diamonds, boasting about his seven homes in the flashy Beijing complex, Star River.
He first rose to fame in 2022 when he posted a video of himself lying on all fours asking his mother for money.
Another influencers to fall victim to China’s wealth ban were Sister Abalone – a wealthy socialite from Guangdong Province, who would show off her mansion on Douyin.
According to Singaporean news channel, Channel News Asia, several of the country’s social platforms, such as Tencent, Douyin, Weibo and Xiaohongshu have backed the concerns raised by the internet watchdog.
On May 15, Weibo made a statement saying it was committed to creating a ‘civilised, healthy and harmonious’ environment.
The social media platform also stated that it has ‘cleaned up’ 1,1100 posts that flaunt wealth.
This is not China’s first crackdown on influencers. Back in 2021 China’s ‘queen of livestreaming’ was fined £160million for tax evasion as Beijing aimed to tackle celebrity culture.
Internet celebrity Viya, whose real name is Huang Wei, was fined for hiding personal income and other offences in 2019 and 2020, according to the tax bureau in Hangzhou, a city in southern China.
The e-commerce livestreamer’s accounts on Weibo, Taobao Live and Douyin went offline as a result.
