Cities jostle for talent as livestreaming gains ground

As livestreaming moves from the periphery to the mainstream in China's business playbook, so are people making a living from the profession.

With livestreaming salvaging stagnant retail sales hampered in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic, cities are competing with each other to attract talent that can turn clicks into cash.

Coming to prominence is Shanghai's decision to grant permanent resident status to Li Jiaqi, an online host who is loosely known as China's best lipstick seller.

The city's Chongming district government published a directive on June 29, identifying Li as a special talent who qualifies for linear applications and faster approvals for residential application.

While the country is on course to loosen its decades-long residential permission system, aiming to expedite flow of population, residential permits in mega cities like Beijing and Shanghai are still prized as they indicate better social welfare.

"It shows just how much livestreaming is boosting commerce, not just online but offline as well," said Mo Daiqing, a senior analyst at the Internet Economy Institute, a Chinese consultancy.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security officially added on Monday nine new professions, including "livestreaming sales personnel", to the official occupation list recognized by the government. Cities are flocking to jump on the bandwagon, hoping the burgeoning trade could serve to stimulate their economy.

Shanghai is pinning hopes on livestreaming to give its shopping paradise anecdote a substantial leg-up. Taobao Live data showed that Shanghai topped both the number of viewers and the number of participating merchants in livestreaming nationwide.

The local authorities are also taking livestreaming to the forefront. In a directive published in April, the municipal government has identified livestreaming as a pillar to develop its online new economy. In addition, livestreaming took the center stage during the two-month-long government-led shopping festival to June 30.

Hangzhou is another city that is offering privileges to talented people good at livestreaming. Its Yuhang district published a notice on latest e-commerce policies, in which it specified influential livestreamers to be granted the title "national-leading talents".

Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, has rolled out the nation's first dedicated Livestreaming Three-Year Action Plan in March, and launched the first livestreaming training academy last month.

"Livestreaming effectively simplifies the consumption route, both on the demand and supply side," said Derek Deng, a partner at global consultancy Bain& Co. "So even if the pandemic eases and people start to go out shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, it's unlikely to erode livestreaming any time soon. But we may expect some new gameplays."

Livestreaming is no longer a practice confined to pure online businesses－many offline shops are broadcasting to attract online viewers, hoping to form a closed loop connecting online and offline sales, said Jason Yu, general manager of consultancy Kantar Worldpanel.

For instance, time-honored brands located in Shanghai's Yuyuan Garden have been embracing livestreaming to market products and attract a younger generation of customers who are unfamiliar with traditional local specialties.

Before the June 18 shopping festival in China, the tourist spot organized livestreaming promotions for nine time-honored brands such as jewelry maker Yayi Gold and noodle specialist Song He Lou.

Yuyuan Tourist Mart, the company behind the brands, has fostered a team of 30 dedicated online hosts to cater to the surging "shop entertainment" trend of people making purchases as they watch broadcasts.

"Visitors of our offline booths are the seed audience of our livestreaming service. Taobao would in turn recommend consumers with similar profiles online and help boost sales," said Jia Xiaowei, a co-general manager at Yuyuan Tourist Mart.

Mo forecast livestreaming-derived revenue this year to reach the trillion-yuan threshold, with Taobao Live, the platform where Li is primarily based, claiming 40 percent, or the largest share.

But Deng warned of the potential overheating of livestreaming, saying the channel itself could not last without better operations.

"Because it's a new customer touch point, merchants should manage it properly and comprehensively as they do with other channels," Deng said. "Being in the game does not guarantee success."