Hundreds of fans gather outside a hotel where Chinese-Canadian pop idol Kris Wu was staying in Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, in 2017. Photo: VCG

An article published on the website of China's top disciplinary body on Tuesday urged to cut the capital chain behind the chaotic celebrity fan culture, adding more weight to the country's ongoing crackdown on problematic business activities in the entertainment sector.

The article on the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI)'s official website suggested that recent regulatory actions aims to break the unhealthy profit chain borne from profit-seeking by some private investors and to prevent disorderly expansion of capital.

Celebrity fan culture, also known as Fanquan culture, has grown alongside China's fast-developing entertainment and culture industry, Jiang Yu, research fellow of the Development Research Center of the State Council, said in the CCDI article. 

He noted that the added value of China's entertainment and culture industry in 2019 reached 4.44 trillion yuan ($687.2 billion), accounting for 4.5 percent of GDP. 

But, Jiang said that multiple celebrity scandals had exposed entertainment industry participants' questionable personal behavior, and also showed their insufficient understanding of Chinese laws and the need to pursue industry reform.  

"Some artists, who display bad character traits and have little talent, can become famous overnight… that is because of the pursuit of profits by capital," said Jiang. 

He stressed that the new regulations involving fanquan culture were aimed at breaking the unhealthy link between the pursuit of excessive profit and continuously lowering industry standards. 

The entertainment and culture industry is not just about simple singing and dancing but also about ideology and culture, Jiang stressed in the article, adding that uncontrolled capital expansion in the field is harmful for its development and will also undermine public interests. 

With the fast growth of capital, the entertainment and culture industry is excessively commercialized, said Jiang in the article. However, like two sides of a coin, the profit-seeking of capital also has its advantages, which can be utilized under correct guidance and regulations. 

China recently issued regulations targeting monopolies and unfair competition to restrict illicit acts by market participants.

"These regulations can both utilize capital to generate capacity and prevent its uncontrolled expansion, which highlights the advantages of China's unique system," said Jiang.

Global Times