Li Jiaqi

Dubbed China’s Lipstick King, Li Jiaqi is a livestreaming sales powerhouse who has melted hearts with his charismatic—and candid—beauty-product reviews. While peers plug luxury items, Li has no problem giving top brands withering reviews—making his recommendations highly coveted. In 2019, for example, Li helped drive $145 million in sales on the e-retailer Taobao during China’s Singles’ Day shopping extravaganza; the year before, he sold 15,000 lipsticks in just five minutes. When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Li worked with state media to promote products from hard-hit Wuhan to help stimulate the city’s economy. His charity work, particularly benefiting rural farmers, has further energized his online fan base. “Whether it is fighting COVID-19 or poverty alleviation, I think we need to play our part,” he told state newswire Xinhua in September—and all as one of the most recognizable faces of China’s livestreaming e-commerce industry, projected to be worth $15 billion by 2023. —Charlie Campbell