China's livestream king falls from his horse

Chinese streamer Xinba announced his retirement after the Cotton Code sanitary napkin scandal contained excessive thiourea content, causing health safety concerns.

China's livestream king announces retirement after toxic product scandal. Photo: Sina Weibo .

On August 19, Xinba (real name Xin Youzhi), a famous streamer in China, announced his retirement. The incident occurred after the sanitary napkin brand Cotton Code, founded by this person, was discovered to contain carcinogens exceeding the threshold.

“I want to say goodbye to everyone. From today, Xinba will no longer be in charge of live streaming. I officially announce my retirement,” Xinba said during a broadcast on the Kuaishou platform on the evening of August 18. He also revealed that he has a serious lung disease and needs to focus on his health, and handed over the management of the company to Chu Ruixue.

Xinba, born in 1990 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province (China), is one of the leading figures in the livestream sales industry in China. He is the Chairman of Guangzhou Hexiang Trading Co., Ltd., founder of the Cotton Code and Xin Youzhi Yanxuan brands. On social media, this streamer once claimed that Cotton Code has more than 10 million users.

Xinba is the "golden goose" of the Kuaishow app, competing with Douyin (TikTok) in China. He is also ranked on par with the duo Dai Duong - Tieu Duong at their peak. He has more than 100 million followers on various platforms.

The Cotton Code brand was launched in 2017 and was introduced as the first product directly developed by Xinba. However, recently, this product has been embroiled in a safety scandal after many test reports provided by consumers showed that batches of sanitary napkins such as Cotton Code Tea Oxygen Night, Tea Oxygen Daily or Sakura Soothing contained excessive thiourea levels. One sample was found to have up to 16,653 μg/g.

Thiourea is an organic sulfur compound used in industry, agriculture , and medicine. According to the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), it is classified as a probable carcinogen with long-term exposure. In China, thiourea has been on the list of hazardous chemicals since 2015.

The incident quickly became the focus of attention on social networks, greatly affecting the image of Xinba as well as Xinxuan Group, the supplier of Cotton Code products. The decision to retire from the Chinese livestream king is seen as a move to appease public opinion, in the context of the brand suffering from a crisis of consumer confidence.

Source: https://znews.vn/vua-livestream-trung-quoc-nga-ngua-post1578130.html