Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is still the king of Chinese social media, according to digital sports agency Mailman’s annual report. The Red Card 2022: China Digital Performance Index, which ranks European football clubs, leagues and players amid China’s evolving online sports landscape, underlined the importance of digital engagement and monetisation as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to limit visits to the mainland for another year. The big winners are “Most Popular Player Online” Ronaldo, “Most Popular Club Online” FC Barcelona, and “Most Popular League Online” Premier League. Another key takeaway is that engagement across leading clubs on popular social media platform Douyin dropped 10 per cent. Manchester United forward Ronaldo, who became the first person ever to reach 400 million followers on Instagram this month, continues his unmatched star power in China. Cristiano Ronaldo is the first person ever to reach 400 million Instagram followers. This is more followers than the population of every country in the world except India and China. He is gargantuan... 🔥 pic.twitter.com/1g4QOS35xX — SPORTbible (@sportbible) February 8, 2022 The 37-year-old is the most followed and engaged player on Weibo, boasting almost 7.5 million followers, while gaining nearly eight million followers in his first month of launching an account on Kuaishou. Ronaldo is an official ambassador for the video sharing mobile app, with his partnership igniting discussions over the power struggle between itself and Douyin. “The support from fans in China has been amazing,” said Ronaldo, winning for the fourth consecutive year. “So it is important for me to continue engaging with them on social media across my Weibo and Kuaishou channels.” How did Cristiano Ronaldo become football’s first billionaire? Fellow fan favourite David Beckham, who reached 10 million followers across Chinese social media, also eyes further engagement in the future. “It’s been a great year connecting with my Chinese fans online,” the retired England international said. “Celebrations around Chinese New Year, cooking delicious local meals, and even learning to speak more Mandarin … these have been just a few of the highlights. I’ve always had such amazing support in China and it’s great to be able to share more stories with fans.” Spanish giants Barcelona, who retain their Mailman crown for the third consecutive year, emerged as the most-followed football club across Weibo and Douyin. They were the only team to score “maximum points” on Weibo and the “most engaged” with on Douyin. Beating other big European clubs, their expansion into the Chinese market only continued last year having launched a new channel on platforms iQiyi and Xiaohongshu, suggesting they are tapping into membership platforms and younger demographics. “We are thrilled to receive this award as it reaffirms the club’s commitment to millions of Culers in China and recognises the fans’ increasing interest in FC Barcelona over the last three years,” Bryan Bachner, its managing director of Asia-Pacific, said. “Our goal is to create content that represents Barca’s unique style and values, whilst also reflecting Chinese culture in an evolving and dynamic digital environment.” Meanwhile, the English Premier League celebrates being China’s leading European league for the fourth year in a row. Its engagement across all Chinese platforms was simply unbeatable, with its Douyin page driving six times more engagement than the next best league, Germany’s Bundesliga. The Premier League was the first to launch a channel on popular video sharing platform Bilibili to engage with younger audiences via its ePremier League esports tournament arm. “We are delighted to have won the Red Card award for a fourth successive season, recognising the Premier League’s commitment to providing innovative ways of engaging with football fans in China,” Premier League chief media officer Paul Molnar said. 🏴 @trippier2 🇧🇷 @Phil_Coutinho 🏴 @sterling7 🏴 @Prowsey16 Four #PL stars are named in @EASPORTSFIFA 's #TOTW 💫 pic.twitter.com/kZkzctcr1S — Premier League (@premierleague) February 16, 2022 “It has been great to see our digital content prove popular with the passionate and loyal supporters in China. We have seen record engagement on existing platforms along with successful new developments. We look forward to introducing more ways for fans in China to enjoy the Premier League experience.” Mailman Group CEO Andrew Collins noted that European leagues, clubs and players will be looking to adapt to Chinese platforms for further audience engagement ahead of the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar starting this November. “As we enter a Fifa World Cup year, look out for increased interest and further investment from sponsors. It’s going to be a blockbuster year for the industry,” Collins said.