BEIJING/SHANGHAI ¨C China¡¯s ¡°common prosperity¡± crackdown has turned a harsh spotlight on the country¡¯s massive livestream e-commerce business ¡ª underlining the fragility of a surging sales channel that some of the world¡¯s biggest brands have come to rely on.
More than 100 million followers of Viya, dubbed the country¡¯s ¡°queen of livestreaming¡± by the Chinese media and public, awoke on Tuesday to find her e-commerce and social media accounts shut down after news that she had been fined more than $200 million for tax evasion.
The rise of celebrities partnering with brands ¡ª from L¡¯Oreal S.A. to Unilever PLC and Adidas AG ¡ª to sell consumer goods during live online streams has seen the sector swell. Consultancy McKinsey expects the trade in the world¡¯s second-biggest economy to be worth $423 billion next year ¡ª more than double estimates for 2020 and bigger than the economies of countries such as Norway and Ireland.
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