www.zerohedge.com By Tyler Durden
Beijing has been busy in recent days preparing to implement President Xi Jinping’s “Common Prosperity” agenda by shaking down social media influencers and China’s biggest tech firms alike for contributions to the fund Xi is apparently raising to finance more economy-boosting projects in rural areas.
As we reported the other day, Beijing just fined one of the country’s top streaming stars $210M and accused her of concealing income booked in 2019 and 2020. And just last night, it was reported that Tencent is being essentially forced to distribute $16 billion of shares from its holdings in JD.com to shareholders after getting the tap from the CCP that it’s time to share some of its winnings, and also give up some control as the CCP fundamentally hopes to weaken the power held by individual tech firms and the billionaire founders who control them.
And now, tax authorities in Beijing and Shanghai are reminding social media influencers and anyone else in danger of being targeted by tax authorities that they have 10 more days to pay what they owe, or face severe punishment. The notice explicitly addresses “celebrities, internet influencers” and others who now find themselves in Beijing’s sights.
