by YANG Bingke
Four years ago, a top livestreaming influencer came to Hangzhou to discuss a potential partnership with Moerpus, a local brand services firm. The influencer's demands — including a luxury apartment with a heated pool, plus assistants, bodyguards and a makeup team — stood out to WEN Congyin, the company's founder, as emblematic of the excesses of Hangzhou's livestream economy at its peak.
Conditions have since changed. "Once a focal point of China's livestream boom, Hangzhou has seen the sector cool in recent years," Wen told Jiemian News. "But the slowdown is also weeding out weaker players."
The cooling reflects a broader shift in China's platform economy, from rapid expansion to consolidation and margin pressure. Livestream-related income depends largely on brand marketing budgets and e-commerce commissions. Over the past two years, consumer-goods companies have cut marketing spending, while online retail growth has moderated, squeezing margins across the industry.
The pressure is visible even among listed companies. Hangzhou-based Yowant, one of China's earliest listed livestream e-commerce firms, reported losses in each of the first three quarters this year, with cumulative losses of 4.1 billion yuan. Its livestreaming revenue fell nearly 20 per cent year on year in the first half after the company shut unprofitable IPs and reduced broadcast sessions.
Agency growth has slowed sharply. Moerpus's annual revenue growth has eased to 5–10 per cent in recent years. Wen said leading Hangzhou MCNs, which manage livestream hosts and broker brand deals, have cut anchor pay, with top influencers' hourly rates falling from 800 yuan to 500 yuan, while some mid-sized agencies have already gone out of business.
At the same time, the supply of livestream hosts has surged. Celebrity host LIU Yuanyuan, who moved her company to Hangzhou in 2023, said competition had intensified dramatically. "The market hasn't grown, but there are more players," she said.
The shift is perhaps most clearly reflected in property markets that once benefited from the boom. Rents at Regent International, a sprawling residential complex popular with livestream hosts during the boom years, have nearly halved from four years ago, according to local media, a shift widely seen as a barometer of the industry's retreat from its peak.
Rising competition and tighter margins are driving a geographic rebalancing of China's livestream economy. Talent and agencies are gradually moving away from Hangzhou to lower-cost cities such as Chengdu, Changsha, Zhengzhou and Guiyang. Pricing has become increasingly aggressive, with some regional MCNs undercutting Hangzhou rivals to secure brand contracts.
Hangzhou's role, however, is shifting rather than diminishing. Home to Alibaba and a dense cluster of e-commerce and logistics firms, and within an hour of Shanghai by high-speed rail, the city offers an ecosystem few rivals can match. Many brands still base their e-commerce operations and influencer marketing teams in the city, making it easier to source products, negotiate campaigns and coordinate supply chains. "If you want efficiency, Hangzhou is still the most convenient place," Wen said.
Those advantages are translating into concrete location decisions. Baby-products brand Manlong moved its headquarters to Hangzhou in recent years. Chief executive XIONG Wei said the city offers clear advantages for product photography, video promotion and livestream operations.
Industry groups describe the downturn as a consolidation phase. A representative from the Hangzhou Livestream E-commerce Association said leading MCN agencies remain confident about the city's long-term prospects.
As domestic growth slows, many Hangzhou agencies are seeking opportunities overseas. Over the past two years, Moerpus has shifted its focus to Japan and Southeast Asia, aiming to replicate China's influencer-led e-commerce model across the Asia-Pacific.
Chinese social platforms such as TikTok and Xiaohongshu are expanding rapidly abroad, creating new channels for livestream shopping. Japan only enabled influencer-linked shopping on TikTok in June, yet a top beauty streamer there has already generated more than 200 million yen in a single session. Vietnam has also seen rapid growth, according to industry estimates.
Applying the model overseas is far from straightforward. Wen said a campaign that takes 10–15 days in China can take 40 days in Vietnam and at least 60 days in Japan, reflecting differences in culture, fulfilment and influencer behaviour.
In Wen's view, Hangzhou's next role lies beyond being China's livestream capital. As the domestic market matures, the city is positioning itself as an operational hub for global livestream commerce. "If you look worldwide," he said, "most of the teams that truly understand how this industry works are still in Hangzhou."
