Is China Boosting the Shopping Festival? Taobao Live Broadcast to Appear

Intensified Competition Among Online Platforms in 6·18 Shopping Festival
Argentina vs. Australia Friendly Match Scheduled for 15th
Only Opportunity to Communicate with Chinese Fans Outside the Match

Lionel Messi, who visited China for a friendly match, will appear on a live broadcast of Taobao, China's largest online shopping platform, on the 14th. The broadcast is planned as part of China's representative discount promotion event, the '6.18 Shopping Festival.'

According to local media such as China Securities Journal on the 13th, Messi is scheduled to appear on a live broadcast hosted by Taobao announcer Li Xianzhuo at 17:05 on the 14th to communicate with fans. Li Xianzhuo is an announcer affiliated with Yaowang Kexu and gained fame by selling 600,000 bottles of liquor worth about 50 million yuan (approximately 9 billion KRW) within three months after starting her first live broadcast in 2019.

(Photo by Taobao)

The 6.18 Shopping Festival is a large-scale discount event held by JD.com, China's second-largest e-commerce company, to celebrate its founding anniversary on June 18. It is one of the two major shopping events alongside Alibaba-led Singles' Day held annually before November 11. Especially this year, JD.com is actively promoting the event by expanding discounts and product categories to mark its 20th anniversary, while competitor Taobao has attracted attention by featuring Messi.

Messi visited Beijing on the 10th to participate in a friendly match between Argentina and Australia, which will be held at Beijing Gongren Stadium on the 15th.

Messi has a strong fan base in China, where interest in soccer is high, and this is his seventh visit to China. Hundreds of fans wearing soccer jerseys with the number 10 gathered at the hotel in downtown Beijing where Messi is staying, chanting his name. Tickets for the match Messi will play in range from a minimum of 580 yuan (about 105,000 KRW) to 4,800 yuan (about 870,000 KRW), and scalped tickets are reportedly selling for more than three times the highest price.

Although an offline meeting between Messi and fans was considered before and after the friendly match, the organizers decided not to hold any events other than the match for safety reasons. The Securities Journal introduced, "The Taobao live broadcast will be the only opportunity for Messi to communicate with Chinese fans during his visit," adding, "Messi has recently shown interest not only in soccer but also in venture investments in technology companies, food, real estate, and other fields."