Click state: inside the machine churning out stars for China’s voracious live-streaming appetite
With revenue set to surpass box office takings, online hosting is big business, spawning an entire industry offering training, work space and even loans for cosmetic surgery to women
Jing Qi, a part-time presenter on the live-streaming platform Huajiao, underwent cosmetic surgery in March to improve her chances of becoming an internet celebrity.
After five hours of rhinoplasty and facial fat injections that left her with gauze covering her nose, eyes, forehead and cheeks, the 27-year-old said she felt “even worse than dead”. But the suffering was worth it.
The fastest-emerging internet sector barely existed in China three years ago, but last year produced revenues of more than 30 billion yuan (US$4.3 billion or HK$33.78 billion) and according to an estimate by investment bank China Renaissance Securities, is set to more than triple that by 2020. That puts it on track to overtake cinema box office receipts in a few year’s time.
“I want more people to watch me, to spend Huajiao coins on me,” Jing explained, referring to the virtual gifts her online followers buy that she can later redeem in part for cash. “In the end, I’ll be able to marry a tall, handsome and rich man,” Jing said.