Fan Bingbing

Tougher regulations and a lackluster performance by imported films saw China’s box office revenues grow last year at the slowest rate in over a decade, according to official data. The world’s fastest-growing film market generated box office revenues of $9.2 billion in 2019, up 5.4% from a year earlier. But it was the second consecutive year that China’s box office growth slowed. Revenue from Chinese films expanded by 8.7% in 2019. Revenue from overseas produced films, however, rose only by 0.1%.  Of the overseas produced films, only Avengers: Endgame and Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw appeared on China’s top 10 list for 2019. Hollywood blockbusters now contribute only around a th

The break-up between Fan Bingbing, China’s highest-paid actress, and her actor fiance Li Chen has made headlines around the world. Fan, 37, and Chen, 40, got engaged in 2017. News of the breakup, which was announced on Fan’s official social media page, soon became one of the most searched terms on China's Twitter-like microblogging platform Weibo. But considering Fan’s fame, the reaction was fairly muted, with a relatively paltry 40 million views. Most of the messages expressed support for her and her work, rather than sadness at her break-up. “Sis, get back to work and pack your schedule. Love is only like floating clouds, your career is more important!” a user called AmourFanFanSis wrote.

Chinese film star Fan Bingbing’s tax woes are likely to have far-reaching effects on the country’s entertainment industry. Coupled with the ruling Communist Party’s tightening controls on the film and TV, the industry is expected to see a slump that will last for as long another two years, say entertainment insiders. Tenky Tin, the head of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, told the South China Morning Post that the slowdown started about three months ago, shortly after Fan first disappeared from public view. “Most of the production work on both movies and television series was put on hold,” he said. The tax-dodging superstar issued a groveling apology on Wednesday and vowed to pay a $

She went missing for three months. Now China’s highest-paid movie star Fan Bingbing has resurfaced, making headlines again after receiving a hefty tax evasion penalty of more than $130 million. Fan and two of her production companies must pay back $42 million in overdue taxes plus more than $87 million in fines by December 31, Chinese tax authorities told China’s state news agency Xinhua on Wednesday. Fan’s agent has been detained for hiding and destroying account books, but Fan will not serve any jail time as a first-time offender, as long as she coughs up the money in time, the Jiangsu provincial tax bureau said.   Although Fan had previously denied all wrongdoing, she said Wednesday that

Has anyone seen Fan Bingbing? The mystery surrounding China’s highest-paid actress has deepened after a Chinese newspaper report claiming she has been barred from leaving the country was suddenly taken offline. The 36-year-old actress, best known in the west for her role in X-Men: Days of Future Past, is at the center of an online debate over whether Chinese A-listers earn too much. Fan topped last year’s Forbes list of best paid Chinese celebrities, with earnings estimated at $45 million. While Fan has not been officially accused of any wrongdoing, outspoken TV host Cui Yongyuan alleged at the end of May that she was involved in “yin-yang” contracts, which are used to evade tax.  He posted

Our bad. A Chinese woman built a career on looking like China’s most highly-paid movie star – and she fooled us. When Inkstone published a story about Chinese actress Fan Bingbing yesterday, we mistakenly ran a photo of He Chengxi, a woman who looks really, really like the superstar. The photo was taken by an AFP photographer at the 71st Cannes Film Festival in France last month. Both the movie star and her lookalike attended the festival. Fan walked on the red carpet at the opening ceremony and the premiere of Chinese film Ash is Purest White, while He showed up at the screening of Solo: A Star Wars Story and Lebanese drama Capharnaüm. We only noticed when Inkstone staffer Xinyan Yu point

Actress Fan Bingbing is best known in the west for her role as teleporting mutant Blink in X-Men: Days of Future Past. But she might not be able to blink away from the authorities. China’s tax authorities have ordered an investigation into allegations that celebrities are evading taxes by using a fraudulent dual contract system, state media reported on Sunday. Anyone found to have broken the law “will be punished accordingly”, China Central Television reported. Shares of China’s film studios and movie producers plunged on Monday in response to concerns that the investigation could shed light on a long-held practice in the industry. Huayi Brothers Media, one of China’s largest studios, plung