KOL Zhang opens office in Hong Kong amid retail slump

Hong Kong's struggling commercial rental market has received a boost from an unexpected new tenant: one of China's top influencers known as Crazy Xiaoyangge, or Crazy Little Yang Brother. Over the past few years, Hong Kong’s weak retail sales have impacted the city’s retail and office spaces. According to reports, as international brands have shuttered and downsized on spaces over recent years, the city’s once notoriously high rentals are now subject to discounts as well as subletting to multiple retailers. Zhang, the influencer whose full name is Zhang Qingyang, has rented a 5,570 square foot office space in the city’s Wan Chai district for HK$183,000 ($23,464) a month while his company, Three Sheep, establishes a branch in the city. The opening was attended by local Hong Kong celebrities including the singer Alan Tam. According to government data from early August, Hong Kong saw a 9.7% decline in retail sales in June compared to the previous year. After declining by 11.5% in May, sales dropped to $3.83 billion. Since February 2024, the region's retail sales have declined for four months. "The industry will remain weak, and this will last until the end of this year," Annie Tse Yau On-yee, chairwoman of the Hong Kong Retail Management Association, told media at the time. In the meantime, influencer-led agencies like Three Sheep, which are known as a Multi-Channel Network in China, are on the rise as nation’s KOL seek to diversify away from livestreaming, and into other forms of income. This takes place as China cracks down on “money worship” across the country’s social media. As a livestreamer and the founder of an ecommerce firm, Zhang reportedly earned RMB 3.21 billion ($452 million) in 2023. Earlier this year, three of China's top influencers — known for posting about their ostentatious luxury lifestyles — disappeared from popular Chinese social media platforms. Wang Hongquanxing, Baoyujiajie, and Bo Gongzi, who gained millions of followers by showing off their opulent lifestyles and possessions, saw their accounts abruptly closed for breaking “community guidelines.” The action is regarded as part of president Xi Jingping’s plan to further the "common prosperity,” and to "purify the internet cultural environment" and promote a "civilized, healthy, and harmonious" digital space by removing displays of expensive homes, fancy cars, and other symbols of wealth.

KOL Crazy Little Brother Yang opens office in Hong Kong

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KOL Crazy Little Brother Yang opens office in Hong Kong