China Fines Influencer $210 Million Over Taxes

China slapped an unprecedented $210 million fine on a top live streamer for tax evasion, stepping up President Xi Jinping’s crackdown on online influencers who have grown wildly popular in recent years.

Huang Wei — also known as Viya — was ordered to pay 1.34 billion yuan in back taxes, late fees, and fines, the State Taxation Administration said Monday in a statement on its website. She avoided taxes totaling 643 million yuan by concealing personal income and making false declarations in 2019 and 2020, the statement added.

Huang issued an apology just after the punishment was announced, saying on her Twitter-like Weibo account that she felt “deeply guilty.” “I totally accept the decision of the tax regulator and will actively collect funds to pay the fines within the deadline,” she wrote.

This story first appeared on Bloomberg.

Viya’s representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The fine is the biggest yet for online salespeople like Viya, who each night compete to convince shoppers to spend millions of dollars on items such as cosmetics, appliances, and clothing. The influencer is one of the biggest stars on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Taobao marketplace, drawing traffic and driving consumption.

The episode signals Beijing is turning its attention to the online streaming commerce arena, which has thrived with little regulation in recent years, as part of Xi’s common prosperity drive to share the wealth. The high-profile case may spook merchants and brands who rely on the format to drive sales, not just at Alibaba but across a number of its rivals’ platforms.

In September, the tax authorities announced tougher rules covering celebrities and live streamers, and last month two of the salespeople were fined a total of $15 million for income tax evasion. The Taobao and Weibo pages for Zhu Chenhui and Lin Shanshan are both blank now.

Read more on this story here on Bloomberg.