Beijing woos US influencers with free trip to show ‘real China’

China seeks to enlist young social media influencers from the United States to collaborate with its local content creators. - Photo: AFP

BEIJING: China is inviting American influencers to join a 10-day, all-expense paid trip through the country in July, as part of Beijing’s efforts to boost people-to-people exchanges and showcase the “real China”.

The initiative, titled “China-Global Youth Influencer Exchange Programme”, seeks to enlist young social media influencers with at least 300,000 followers to collaborate with Chinese content creators, according to recruitment posts by Chinese state-affiliated media outlets, including the China Youth Daily.