Li Jiaqi, Dubbed the "Lipstick King," livestreams reviews of lipsticks in Shanghai in January, 2018. Photo: VCG

China's most popular livestreaming star Li Jiaqi and highly praised Chinese director Zhao Ting, also known as Chloe Zhao, were included in the latest edition of Time magazine's flagship franchise - Time100 Next. 

The list is divided into five categories: artists, phenoms, leaders, innovators, and advocates. Li and Zhao were listed in the innovators category alongside 17 other outstanding individuals such as British researcher Robin Carhart-Harris, who seeks ingenious breakthroughs by using psychedelic drugs for treating depression; and Sohla El-Waylly, a talented female chef who spoke out about racism and discrimination. 

The director of 2021's critically acclaimed film Nomadland, Zhao is described on the list as having "an uncanny skill for walking the knife's edge between sentiment and sentimentality - and that enriches her storytelling in very authentic and original ways." 

Li, the "lipstick king" of China, has otherwise been praised as a magical livestreaming star who can sell 15,000 lipsticks in just five minutes while also maintaining a strong sense of social responsibility through charitable undertakings such as poverty alleviation and helping with the recovery of Chinese cities' economy during the pandemic. 

"Whether it is fighting COVID-19 or poverty alleviation, I think we need to play our part," Time quoted Li as saying in a September 2020 interview with the Xinhua News Agency. 

"I like the diversity of this list, like what Li Jiaqi has shown - that people from all walks of life can inspire the world with their unique talent," wrote one netizen on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo. 

"I no longer feel excited if Chinese stars are praised by Time because it has become more pervasive for Chinese voices to be heard by the world," posted another.