The phrase “Half of the country’s internet celebrities are in Chengdu” has gone viral across Chinese social media following the 2025 Kuaishou Guanghe Conference, signaling the Sichuan capital’s rising status as a hub for digital content creators. The event, which took place in early June, drew prominent short-video personalities, including Na Yina, Zhong Meimei, and Tian Yiming, to the city’s iconic locations.
As Weibo reports, the conference attracted more than 100,000 on-site visitors while streaming to millions across China’s short-video platforms. Economists now identify the rise of “influencer cities” where municipal authorities deliberately cultivate digital-friendly environments to attract creators and their audiences.
“Cities that rely solely on the flash of viral moments risk a ‘people boom’ that does not translate into sustained economic growth, especially if the underlying industrial base remains thin,” say urban economics experts studying the phenomenon.
For local businesses, influencer presence translates into immediate sales increases for restaurants, fashion boutiques, and hotels featured in livestreams, although experts caution that converting transient “traffic” into lasting economic value remains challenging.
Chengdu’s historic areas, including Mingyue Village, are being reimagined through short-video aesthetics. The phenomenon demonstrates how digital fame intersects with community development, as seen with Tibetan creator Jiarong Jie 阿Juan, who leverages her platform to aid rural villages.
The surge of creators and tourists raises questions about infrastructure strain and housing costs, while municipal regulators face new governance challenges in managing crowd control and ensuring the digital economy’s expansion aligns with social safeguards.
Digital Content Strategy
Chengdu’s emergence as an influencer destination aligns with China’s broader initiatives to establish itself as a global digital content hub. In July, Shanghai launched a policy package offering financial incentives up to 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) for qualified platforms and industrial parks in designated pilot zones.
Individual creators producing high-quality or innovative content can apply for grants up to 100,000 yuan ($14,000), with projects using AI in production eligible for 30% capital support.
The national strategy also includes streamlined visa processes for international content creators and increased access to cultural landmarks for filming, explicitly connecting content creation with tourism development.
Kuaishou, the conference organizer, competes in China’s digital content ecosystem that includes RedNote (Xiaohongshu), which recently reached a $26 billion valuation. RedNote has gained over 500,000 American users as TikTok faces potential removal from the U.S. unless its parent company, ByteDance, divests its operations in the country.
U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated he may extend the September 17 TikTok divestment deadline for a fourth time, stating, “Until the complexity of things works out, we just extend a little bit longer.”
Cecilia Carloni, Interview Manager at Influence Weekly and writer for NetInfluencer. Coming from beautiful Argentina, Ceci has spent years chatting with big names in the influencer world, making friends and learning insider info along the way. When she’s not deep in interviews or writing, she's enjoying life with her two daughters. Ceci’s stories give a peek behind the curtain of influencer life, sharing the real and interesting tales from her many conversations with movers and shakers in the space.
The phrase “Half of the country’s internet celebrities are in Chengdu” has gone viral across Chinese social media following the 2025 Kuaishou Guanghe Conference, signaling the Sichuan capital’s rising status as a hub for digital content creators. The event, which took place in early June, drew prominent short-video personalities, including Na Yina, Zhong Meimei, and Tian Yiming, to the city’s iconic locations.
As Weibo reports, the conference attracted more than 100,000 on-site visitors while streaming to millions across China’s short-video platforms. Economists now identify the rise of “influencer cities” where municipal authorities deliberately cultivate digital-friendly environments to attract creators and their audiences.
“Cities that rely solely on the flash of viral moments risk a ‘people boom’ that does not translate into sustained economic growth, especially if the underlying industrial base remains thin,” say urban economics experts studying the phenomenon.
For local businesses, influencer presence translates into immediate sales increases for restaurants, fashion boutiques, and hotels featured in livestreams, although experts caution that converting transient “traffic” into lasting economic value remains challenging.
Chengdu’s historic areas, including Mingyue Village, are being reimagined through short-video aesthetics. The phenomenon demonstrates how digital fame intersects with community development, as seen with Tibetan creator Jiarong Jie 阿Juan, who leverages her platform to aid rural villages.
The surge of creators and tourists raises questions about infrastructure strain and housing costs, while municipal regulators face new governance challenges in managing crowd control and ensuring the digital economy’s expansion aligns with social safeguards.
Digital Content Strategy
Chengdu’s emergence as an influencer destination aligns with China’s broader initiatives to establish itself as a global digital content hub. In July, Shanghai launched a policy package offering financial incentives up to 10 million yuan ($1.4 million) for qualified platforms and industrial parks in designated pilot zones.
Individual creators producing high-quality or innovative content can apply for grants up to 100,000 yuan ($14,000), with projects using AI in production eligible for 30% capital support.
The national strategy also includes streamlined visa processes for international content creators and increased access to cultural landmarks for filming, explicitly connecting content creation with tourism development.
Kuaishou, the conference organizer, competes in China’s digital content ecosystem that includes RedNote (Xiaohongshu), which recently reached a $26 billion valuation. RedNote has gained over 500,000 American users as TikTok faces potential removal from the U.S. unless its parent company, ByteDance, divests its operations in the country.
U.S. President Donald Trump has indicated he may extend the September 17 TikTok divestment deadline for a fourth time, stating, “Until the complexity of things works out, we just extend a little bit longer.”