China Pays US Social Media Influencers to Promote Beijing Olympics, ‘Positive’ US–China News

Visitors to Chongli, one of the venues for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, pass by the Olympics logo in Chongli in Hebei Province, China, on Aug. 13, 2020. AP Photo/Ng Han Guan

Beijing is paying American social media influencers as part of a campaign to promote the Winter Olympic Games amid a wave of diplomatic boycotts from the West.

Under a $300,000 contract with the Chinese consulate in New York, Vippi Media, a New Jersey consulting firm, will oversee a marketing campaign through mid-March across Instagram, TikTok, and livestreaming platform Twitch.