Beijing turns to influencers to peddle Chinese propaganda

Telegraph

21-06-2025

When American YouTuber IShowSpeed – real name Darren Watkins Jr – came across a dancing car in China's technology hub of Shenzhen, he reacted in typically breathless fashion.
'You see what I'm talking about?' he shouts at the camera. 'This is where they be making this stuff at – it's Shenzhen!'
It was one of many effusive outbursts during a livestream stretching almost six hours, in which the social media star ordered a KFC by drone, rode in a flying car and bought a Huawei triple-folding phone.
The video by IShowSpeed, who has more than 40m subscribers on YouTube, was perhaps the clearest example yet of Western influencers promoting China's technological capabilities and culture.
It marks a new frontier in Chinese propaganda efforts, as the country seeks to control the narrative overseas and not just at home.
Russia and China are already believed to be spending as much as £8bn a year to bolster their media presence globally, primarily in developing countries in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.
It is a trend that has raised particular concerns in Britain amid crippling cuts to the BBC World Service.
However, China's latest initiative to attract influencers, described as the 'ultimate cultural exchange', demonstrates a more concerted effort to win hearts and minds.
The Communist Youth League of China is inviting influencers under the age of 35 with more than 300,000 social media followers to apply to take part in a 10-day trip that will include visits to Suzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Handan and Beijing. Successful applicants can apply to have their travel expenses reimbursed.
For government officials, the motive is clear.
By harnessing the 'authentic' voices of influencers, Beijing wants to target a more subtle way of spreading soft power.
'It's becoming more sophisticated,' says Neil O'Brien, of the China Research Group of Tory MPs. 'Less crass stuff and more new media. Lord knows how much they are spending.'
Helena Ivanov, at the Henry Jackson Society think tank, adds: 'I think many people are, to a certain degree, underestimating the extent to which China is investing in disinformation because China doesn't necessarily do it in an in-your-face style like, for example, Russia does.
'But the fact that it's under the radar doesn't mean that it's not out there and I think China has been very good at capturing the ways through which it can disseminate its disinformation.'
What's more, publishing content on online platforms such as YouTube allows China to present its message to younger audiences.
Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and X were the top five news sources used by 16 to 24-year-olds last year, according to Ofcom.
A recent survey by Ipsos found that almost half of young people trust influencers, while 55pc get news from them every day.
This is particularly concerning given some of their content.
It doesn't take long on social media to find British vloggers posting fluffy videos from the Xinjiang province that play down concerns about alleged human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims.
Others post videos vowing to give their subscribers the 'truth' about China and expose Western media 'lies'.
Such claims have fuelled concerns that Beijing is using sites such as TikTok, owned by Beijing-headquartered ByteDance, to spread its propaganda.
The latest initiative also suggests Beijing is formalising a strategy already deployed by some of its companies.
In 2023, Chinese fast fashion brand Shein, which has been accused of using forced labour and other human rights abuses, invited influencers on an all-expenses-paid trip to its manufacturing facilities in Guangzhou.
The result was unsurprising.
In one now-deleted video, influencer Destene Sudduth, who has 4m followers on TikTok, claimed to have seen clean factories and happy workers. Shein has said it has a zero-tolerance policy on forced labour and is committed to respecting human rights.
For Beijing, though, the influencer push hints at a more understated method.
Rather than ramming its political points home via state media, the regime is seeking alternative means to burnish China's credentials as a technological and cultural hub.
With TikTok dominating the social media sphere and as more Westerners turn to Chinese-made phones and electric cars, authorities are hoping to transform the country into a desirable – even fashionable – brand.
In turn, China hopes young people in the West will be willing to overlook the country's questionable track record on democracy and human rights.
Meanwhile, China's efforts to open its doors to social media stars are particularly striking given Donald Trump's apparent determination to do the opposite.
Khaby Lame, often considered the world's biggest TikTok personality, has left the US after being targeted in Trump's immigration crackdown.
Others also point to the fact that the US president is still considering a potential ban or forced sale of TikTok, though this week he gave the company a third reprieve by granting it an extra 90 days to find a buyer.
Yet efforts to silence influencers are not only undemocratic; they are also unlikely to work.
Enterprising streamers will simply decamp to a different platform, experts say, as many TikTokers have already demonstrated by setting up on rival YouTube Shorts.
Ivanov says China's increasing use of influencers is 'extremely concerning'. 'You can't stop it any more. Pandora's box has opened,' she adds.
As a result, she suggests that the West cannot ignore China's sophisticated new soft power strategy.