Live streaming is popular in China. An article by a Chinese scholar pointed out that 15.08 million people regard live streaming as their main job, but 98% of them may have difficulty even making ends meet. Industry insiders also pointed out that the phenomenon of amateurs becoming popular is often operated by a team. As China's economy is in a downturn, the prospects for the live streaming industry are not optimistic.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China announced on May 24 that 19 new occupations were added, one of which attracted much attention: "Internet (network) anchor". According to the Central News Agency today, citing mainland media, "rectifying the name" of anchors will help eliminate the social prejudice against "unprofessional" occupations.
Voice of America reported on the 1st that as China's economy is in a downturn, more and more young people who want to "lay low" are joining the ranks of live broadcasters. In early April, the official Global Times published an article by Lv Benfu, a professor at the School of Economics and Management of the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, pointing out that by the end of last year, there were 1.55 billion short video accounts in China, and 15.08 million people made live broadcasting their main business.
The article analyzes that more than 60% of live streamers are young people aged 18 to 29. The survey shows that 95.2% of them have a monthly income of less than RMB 5,000, and only 0.4% have a monthly income of more than RMB 100,000. This means that 2% of live streamers earn 80% of the money, and the remaining 98% may have difficulty even making ends meet.
The report said that Jerry, who worked as a corporate media public relations officer in Shanghai for many years, observed that young Chinese people have a mentality of being too ambitious or too lazy, and they see that live broadcasters can make money quickly, so they rush in. However, he said that the average monthly salary for fresh graduates is 4,000 to 5,000 yuan, and one person can earn 80 cents by brushing traffic on Douyin. If live broadcasts receive high-priced rewards and share profits with the platform, it is indeed easier to make money than ordinary jobs.
However, Jerry also mentioned that China's economy is deteriorating, live broadcast hosts' sales performance is not good, and their income has also dropped significantly. He is not optimistic about the future development of China's live broadcast industry.
Source: https://www.rfi.fr/cn/%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD/20240601-%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E8%BF%91%E5%8D%83%E4%B8%87%E9%9D%92%E5%B9%B4%E6%8A%95%E5%85%A5%E7%9B%B4%E6%92%AD