Livestreamers in China welcome move to formally recognise their profession; experts expect stricter tax enforcement

SINGAPORE: For four hours daily, Ms Qian Yongjing gets in front of a camera in her Shenzhen office and lays out how to excel at the workplace through good communication and high emotional intelligence. 

The 40-year-old livestreamer broadcasts on Chinese social media platforms like Douyin, Kuaishou and Xiaohongshu, where she has amassed five million fans and counting. She didn’t want to share her exact earnings, only disclosing that she earns six digits in yuan monthly.

It is a relatively recent reality for Ms Qian. Like many others, the mompreneur with over 10 years of teaching experience in workplace communication was forced to pivot her business online when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

Her team at Homeland, a Shenzhen-based content creation company she founded in 2015, went through much trial and error during the first two years of the transition. They needed to master the use of an online platform for conducting lessons and to analyse the demands of the online market.

“We struggled a lot but we managed to push through. We believe this field (livestreaming) was not only vital during the pandemic, and it has been proven so,” Ms Qian told CNA.

There were over 15 million livestreamers or “wangluo zhubo” in China at the end of 2023, according to the state-run China Netcasting Services Association. 

Despite this, the profession isn’t officially recognised in the country, which means those in that line of work aren’t eligible for government support in areas such as training and development. 

But this could soon change as China looks to give livestreamers the formal nod along with more than a dozen other occupations — most linked to high-tech industries.

The move is taking place as the world’s second-largest economy