Live in the time of coronavirus: sleeping man, farmers ride wave of streaming popularity in China

With millions staying home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, live-streaming in China is more popular than before

One man made money streaming his sleep, while farmers facing trouble selling produce through traditional means are hawking their goods online instead

Reading Time:3 minutes

Live-streamers are enjoying even greater popularity than before in China, with many staying home due to the coronavirus outbreak. Source: Screenshots from Douyin, Taobao

Published: 5:30pm, 19 Feb 2020Updated: 6:24pm, 19 Feb 2020

Live-streaming, already a booming industry in China, is experiencing a new wave of popularity with many cities locked down and millions staying home to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus which has killed more than 2,000 in the country as of Wednesday.

While the outbreak has hit China’s economy overall, a strong move from offline to online activity from those confined to their homes has boosted the fortunes of some tech companies, including those with live-streaming platforms.

Short video platforms with live-streaming features saw a sharp increase in user activity in the first few months of the year, according to a QuestMobile report this week.

Over the recent Lunar New Year period, users on Douyin – the mainland Chinese version of TikTok – spent an average of 99 minutes on the app each day, compared to 67 minutes during the festive season last year.

Kuaishou, its closest competitor, also saw a rise in average daily usage time from 44 minutes to 71 minutes during the same period, the report said.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x