A Chinese social media influencer has been banned from the country’s most popular online platform after internet censors disapproved of her posts showing off luxury clothing and jewellery.
Wang Hongquanxing, whose blatant displays of wealth earned her the nickname “China’s Kim Kardashian,” was reportedly suddenly removed from Chinese social media sites after bragging about the huge amounts of money she spends on clothes and other products.
Wang, who once boasted that he had never left the house without jewellery and clothes worth more than $1.4 million, has been banned from sites including Weibo, Douyin and Xiaohongshu.
China’s government’s Cyberspace Administration has ruled that social media users are not allowed to “create flashy personalities.”
Experts speculate that Chinese authorities may be sensitive about the wealthy flaunting their wealth at a time of major economic slowdown across the country.
“Many people will find this content vulgar, especially in times of economic downturn,” Kerwin Morris, a researcher into China’s internet policy at Leiden University in the Netherlands, told the Financial Times.
“So it makes the authorities’ actions seem more moral and noble.”
Chinese authorities announced in April that they would crack down on any online behavior that “deliberately displays a lavish lifestyle based on wealth.”
“When materialism starts to spread, it may have a negative impact on teenagers. Therefore, the trend of purchasing luxury goods over the internet needs to be stopped,” authorities said in a statement carried by Chinese state media.
However, Wang reportedly continued to show off his wares online.
The 31-year-old has 4.3 million followers on the TikTok-like social media platform Douyin, where he watches short videos talking about the seven luxury apartments he owns in Beijing.
Wang is reportedly expected to appear wearing jade and pink diamonds.
Chinese censors also banned another influencer, “Sister Abalone,” a middle-aged socialite with more than 2 million followers.
According to reports, “Sister Avalon” was entertaining her followers with a video tour of her luxurious home in Macau.
The influencer, known as “Mr Bo”, was also removed from the online platform after posting a video of himself walking his dog around in a designer bag to his three million followers.
“Mr Bo” was also known to boast about the custom-made Rolls Royce that was given to him for his 25th birthday.
