Businesspeople top Weibo microbloggers list
Annual list reveals most influential social media commentators - and their power continues to rise with increased internet use on mainland
Mainland businesspeople are influential not only in the country's commercial sector, but in cyberspace.
Sina Weibo, which offers one of the most popular microblog services in China, has released its list of the most influential microbloggers for last year - and three of the top five were businessmen.
The influence of these movers and shakers of social media is still on the rise; the number of mainland internet users increased by 10 per cent last year, to 564 million people, according to the latest figures released by the government-run China Internet Network Information Centre.The centre said the number of these web surfers who access the internet through mobile phones, tablet computers and other wireless devices rose by 18.1 per cent last year to 420 million.
Former Google China chief Kai-Fu Lee was Sina Weibo's most influential microblogger, followed by the hosts of Hunan Satellite TV's entertainment show Happy Camp, He Jiong and Xie Na .
Outspoken property tycoon Ren Zhiqiang and angel investor Charles Xue Manzi rounded out the top five spots.
Li and Ren, who voiced support for the outspoken Southern Weekly during a row between the newspaper's editorial staff and propaganda officials early this month, appeared to have been warned by authorities to watch their words following the saga.