China Is Putting Salary Caps On TV Stars To Clamp Down On Celebrity Culture
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China is introducing a new policy to prevent actors from receiving multi-million dollar wages.
According to the South China Morning Post, the move comes after TV star Zheng Shuang was given a whopping $25 million for her role in one series.
It caused mass outcry from people in China when her salary was revealed to the public last year, as many thought it was ridiculous for her to get such a large amount of money.
The National Radio and Television Administration has now outlined new rules that will control how much money these stars can get paid.
Actors' wages will now be capped at 40 percent of the total production budget and a leading star can't be paid more than 70 percent of what the entire cast receive, according to the Daily Mail.
This rule will be locked in for the next five years.
Local media report how this will hopefully rectify an issue that has been plaguing the Chinese entertainment industry for a while now.
The South China Morning Post says these humungous salaries 'have been taking up the bulk of production costs and have affected quality'.
The outlet explained how Shuang's pay sparked an investigation from the National Radio and Television Administration.
The inquiry found the TV production team violated 'cost proportion requirements' when they gave Shuang that incredible amount of money.
It's hoped this new policy will prevent tax evasion.
The MailOnline reports how Shuang was fined £34 million for tax evasion between 2019 and 2020 and producers were ordered to blacklist her.
A social media star called Viya, whose real name is Huang Wei, reportedly also copped a £160 million fine for the same crime over the same time period.
There's reportedly a scheme in China known as drawing up 'yin yang contracts', where the actor and studio will agree on a salary and then another contract will be signed with a much lower amount.
China's National Radio and Television Administration is hopeful they will be able to prevent this from happening in the future as well.
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