[News Terms] China Blocks Influencers' SNS for Violating 'Gongdong Buyu' Policy

Thuja Gongja, Jeonbokjibeonni, and Others Also Have Accounts Blocked
"Due to CCP Crackdown, Violation of Common Prosperity Policy"

The social media account of Chinese influencer Wang Hongquanshin (王紅權星), who frequently flaunted his wealth, has been blocked. Major foreign media outlets report that the Chinese Communist Party has cracked down on several influencers, including Wang Hongquanshin, citing violations of the "Common Prosperity (共同富裕)" policy.

"Common Prosperity" is a distribution-centered economic policy meaning "let's prosper together." It aims to share the fruits of economic growth brought about by reform and opening up collectively. Although China grew strong enough to compete with the United States under Deng Xiaoping's "Theory of Becoming Rich First (先富論)," which allowed capable individuals to become wealthy first, the widening wealth gap between urban and rural areas and soaring youth unemployment have led Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to revive this economic policy framework.

In other words, Common Prosperity marks a shift in China's economic policy from "growth" to "distribution." The Party intends to regulate the wealth of private enterprises and high-income groups and share it with the people through voluntary donations. This is interpreted as an expression of intent to prevent excessive concentration of wealth among a few and to reorganize the wealthy and large corporations under the Communist Party's order.

At the 5th Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party in November 2015, President Xi stated, "Eliminating poverty, improving people's livelihoods, and gradually realizing 'Common Prosperity' are essential requirements of socialism and important missions of the Party." On August 30, 2021, at the Central Committee for Deepening Overall Reform, Xi emphasized, "Under the strategic criterion of promoting Common Prosperity, let's create development space for small and medium-sized enterprises and better protect consumer rights." Since then, Common Prosperity has become a national policy guideline of the Chinese government.

On the 22nd, Chinese media reported that the account of Wang Hongquanshin, who has 4,374,000 followers on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), was suddenly blocked the previous evening. Douyin cited violations of the "Douyin Community Self-Regulation Agreement" as the reason. Wang Hongquanshin's last video was posted on March 30. He is also unsearchable on Weibo (微博, the Chinese version of X) and Xiaohongshu (小紅書, the Chinese version of Instagram).

Wang Hongquanshin's real name is Wang Hongquan (王洪全), born in December 1993 in Tangshan, Hebei Province. He gained great popularity by flaunting his wealth on social media. In a media interview, he said he would not go out unless he was adorned with luxury clothes worth at least 10 million yuan (about 1.9 billion KRW) in total. He owns seven houses in a luxury apartment complex in Beijing, boasting that the largest apartment measures 991㎡ (about 300 pyeong), but he keeps it empty because it does not get sunlight.

Earlier, Chinese social media platforms including Douyin issued a joint notice on the 15th strictly banning the dissemination of content with unhealthy values such as indulgence in luxury and flaunting wealth. They began deleting thousands of related contents and shutting down accounts violating the regulations. As a result, several influencers including Wang Hongquanshin, Cebai Mugongja (柏公子), and Jeonbokjibeonni (鮑魚家姐) were also hit by the crackdown.

The crackdown on materialism by Chinese social media appears to be related to President Xi's Common Prosperity agenda. Professor Ye Yaoyuan of the University of St. Thomas in the United States analyzed on Voice of America (VOA), "The Chinese Communist Party's crackdown is because it violates the Common Prosperity policy," adding, "With China's economy sluggish, the flaunting of wealth by some has increased the relative deprivation among young impoverished people, which could focus public anger on the Chinese government."