China influencer marketing insights
MVP (Mega Volume Production, 十方众声) publishes China influencer marketing insights for talent teams, brands and their advisers: regulations read from the source text, platform changes, contract and deal structures, and reviews of publicly reported events. Every article cites its sources and never refers to any client. Articles are written by MVP and updated on an ongoing basis.
All China influencer marketing insights
Labeling AI-Generated Content: China’s Rules vs Platform Policies
As of October 2026, China’s Measures for Labeling AI-Generated and Synthetic Content require AI-made text, images, audio and video to carry labels: AI tools add a visible label where content could mislead and an implicit one to the file metadata, platforms check and display them, posters declare AI content, and no one may strip a label. Douyin, Xiaohongshu and WeChat Channels write the duty into their terms, while TikTok, YouTube and Meta require labels on realistic AI content and may add labels automatically when files carry C2PA or similar signals.
Ad Standards Influencer Disclosure Guidelines 2025: What Changed
The Fall 2025 edition of the Ad Standards influencer disclosure guidelines, current as of October 2026, changes the Fall 2023 edition this way: it accepts Gifted and InvitedGuest, lets a clear paid-partnership tool stand on its own, and adds guidance on safe zones, affiliate links, child audiences, and AI-generated influencers and images. The guidelines are the Canadian advertising industry’s own recommended practice; the law behind them is the Competition Act, enforced by the Competition Bureau.
China Advertising Law absolute terms: when an ad may say “best”
China’s Advertising Law bans absolute terms such as “national-level”, “highest-grade” and “best” in Article 9(3), and as of October 2026 local regulators apply it with SAMR’s 2023 Enforcement Guidelines on Absolute Terms in Advertising. A claim that points at the product and fits none of the guidelines’ nine carve-outs can cost the advertiser a fine of CNY 200,000 to 1,000,000; a first use with slight harm, promptly corrected, may go unpunished.
China Celebrity Endorsement Rules: Who Can Endorse What in 2026
As of October 2026, China’s celebrity endorsement rules bar celebrities from endorsing medical services, drugs, medical devices, health foods, foods for special medical purposes, tobacco or off-campus tutoring, under the Advertising Law and the 2022 guiding opinions of seven departments. An endorser may recommend only products they have used, and no one under ten or penalised for a false endorsement in the past three years may endorse. A rule-breaking endorser forfeits the illegal gains, pays a fine of one to two times that amount, and shares liability with the brand when a false health-related ad harms consumers.
Do Chinese influencers need a degree? What the rules actually say
As of October 2026, no Chinese rule requires influencers to hold a degree: those posting on medicine, finance, law or education must pass a platform credential check of their professional qualification, service credentials or background, and livestream hosts must also file a professional qualification with the platform. Health accounts face the strictest checks, with licences and proof of employment verified. The October 2025 “degree law” reports cite no official document.
China’s Livestream E-commerce Rules 2026: Host and MCN Duties
As of October 2026, livestream selling in China is governed by the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Livestream E-commerce (SAMR and CAC Order No. 117), in force since February 1, 2026. Hosts may not make false claims, use AI to fabricate information or impersonate others, and carry endorser duties when a stream is advertising; MCNs must verify hosts, sign agreements, train and manage them, vet and sign with the live rooms they work with, and check sellers’ papers when they pick products.
China Social Media Users 2026: Official Numbers by Platform
As of October 2026, WeChat leads the China social media platforms that report users: Tencent puts combined Weixin and WeChat monthly active users at 1.439 billion as of June 30, 2026. Kuaishou averaged 797.3 million MAU over the quarter, Weibo 561 million, QQ 520 million and Bilibili 371 million, all in Q2 2026 results, while Douyin and Xiaohongshu (RedNote) publish no regular user numbers. China had 1.125 billion internet users at the end of 2025, 1.114 billion of them on social networks, according to CNNIC.
China’s New Trademark Law 2027: Key Changes for Brands and Names
China’s revised Trademark Law was adopted on June 26, 2026 and takes effect on January 1, 2027; as of October 2026 the 2019 text still applies. The new law refuses filings made without intent to use; a bad-faith filing with adverse effects brings a warning, and a fine of up to RMB 100,000 may be added; the opposition period falls from three months to two; and foreign applicants with a residence or place of business in China may file without an agency. Creators and foreign brands should check their names, including Chinese-language names, before and after the change.
Chinese Population in Canada and the US: Census Data by City
As of October 2026, official counts put about 1.7 million Chinese people in Canada (4.7% of the population, 2021 Census) and 5.83 million people of Chinese origin, excluding Taiwanese, in the United States (2024 American Community Survey). Nearly 70% of Chinese Canadians live in the Toronto and Vancouver metro areas, and 3.73 million Americans aged 5 and over speak Chinese at home. Origin counts and language counts overlap and cannot be added together.
Douyin Xingtu Fees 2026: What Brands, Creators and MCNs Pay
As of October 2026, Xingtu (巨量星图), Douyin’s creator marketplace, charges both sides: brands pay 5% on top of the creator fee (10% on open submissions, nothing for now on Xingguang orders), and creators have 5% deducted, or 3% where an MCN settles. The rates are in the Settlement Management Rules in force since January 1, 2026. On a direct booking of RMB 10,000, the brand pays RMB 10,500 and an individual creator receives RMB 9,500 before tax.
How Much Does It Cost to Advertise on Xiaohongshu (RedNote)?
As of October 2026, advertising on Xiaohongshu (RedNote) costs money in three places: creator collaborations booked through Pugongying, where the brand pays the creator’s own flat rate plus a 10% platform service fee; Juguang ads in the feed and search, bought by CPC or CPM auction from a prepaid balance; and boosts for single notes, where a Pugongying content boost costs RMB 25 per 1,000 impressions. On top come RMB 600 to verify an enterprise professional account plus RMB 600 a year, and a refundable deposit of RMB 30,000–150,000 in 68 regulated sub-sectors such as health, finance and education.
AI likeness and voice rules in China and the US since 2024
As of October 2026, AI likeness and voice rules in China and the US have moved three ways since 2024: the law now expressly protects the voice, including AI-processed voices; regulators require AI-generated content to carry labels; and platforms have opened likeness detection to talent and their agencies. This article lists the six changes in date order, each with its official source.
Chinese creators on YouTube: entity, US tax and getting paid
As of October 2026 the YouTube Partner Program is open in Hong Kong, Taiwan, the US and Canada but not in mainland China, so Chinese creators must first decide which entity joins the program and gets paid, and where. With US tax info submitted, YouTube withholds 0% to 30% of earnings from US viewers; for an individual account with no tax info, it withholds 24% of total worldwide earnings. Bringing the money home, an individual in China can convert up to the equivalent of USD 50,000 a year.
Morality clauses: how talent exits when the brand is in trouble
As of October 2026, Chinese law gives talent three ways out of an endorsement contract when the brand runs into trouble: agreed termination events (Civil Code Art. 562), statutory termination for a breach that defeats the contract’s purpose (Art. 563), and the rules for ending a likeness license (Art. 1022). Article 562 also supports a reverse morality clause that names brand-side events as the talent’s own triggers.
China’s 2026 MCN rules: registration, signing, account pages
As of October 2026, China’s MCN rules, Order No. 23 on multi-channel distribution services, have been in force since September 1, 2026. They set three requirements for agencies that plan, produce, distribute, market, promote or manage content for public accounts: a registered business scope that names the service, an identity check when an account is signed, and the agency’s name shown prominently on each signed account’s page.
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