China regulator says livestreaming sales stars should speak Mandarin, dress well

Mandarin Oriental International

18/08/2021 11:53

BEIJING, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Hosts in China's livestreaming
industry should speak Mandarin and dress appropriately when they
market products online, the country's commerce ministry said on
Wednesday, as it looks to tighten its oversight of the sector. 
    Livestreaming marketing has seen its popularity surge in the
last two years among brands like L’Oreal, Nike, Dyson and online
shoppers, and most Chinese e-commerce platforms now offer the
option to purchase and sell products via livestreaming.
    It became the target of scrutiny last year with some
shoppers and brands accusing some livestreamers of
misrepresenting products or faking sales numbers, prompting
China's cyberspace regulator to announce draft rules in
November.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N2HZ28F
    China's Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday published more
detailed guidelines and for the first time mentioned a preferred
language. Mandarin is the official medium in China but there are
 also many dialects and ethnic minority languages in the
country. 
    "It is better to use Mandarin during livestreaming," it said
in a section about how livestreamers were expected to behave.
    The new rules, which are up for public review until Sept. 2,
also said livestreamers should dress in a way that is
inoffensive to their audience, and carry an image reflecting the
characteristics of the products or services they try to sell.

 (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Editing by Bernadette Baum)
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Messaging: brenda.goh.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))