Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan, Taiwanese singer Jay Chou and Hong
Hong Kong movie star Jackie Chan, Taiwanese singer Jay Chou and Hong Kong movie star Andy Lau took the top-three positions on the 2010 Forbes Chinese Celebrities List released on April 28 in Beijing by Forbes Magazine. Chinese mainland basketball star Yao Ming ranked fourth. For the first time, Forbes has incorporated celebrities from Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the seventh release of the list. Income and media exposure are the two key factors for evaluation.
The top-three are from Hong Kong and Taiwan
The top-three celebrities on the list are from Hong Kong and Taiwan. Jackie Chan, who topped the list, was the first artist to hold a solo concert at the Bird’s Nest, China’s Olympic stadium, in May 2009 in front of over 75,000 fans. Although Jay Chou, who ranked second, starred in some movies that were not popular in 2009, he has secured his opportunity to enter Hollywood.
Andy Lau, who ranked third, had three movies in 2009 and his popularity skyrocketed due to the publicity he received after his marriage was exposed by the media. Hong Kong and Taiwan accounted for 43 celebrities on the Top-100 Chinese Celebrity List. However their achievements mainly rely on the market in mainland China.
Yao dominates first position among listed Chinese mainland celebrities
As for celebrities from the Chinese mainland, the “Little Giant” Yao Ming has dominated the first position for seven consecutive years and ranked fourth on the list. Zhang Ziyi, who took the fifth position, was the center of 25 cover story reports in 2009 although she was involved in two scandals at the year-end. In 2009, Zhao Benshan, who ranked sixth, expanded the number of his Er’renzhuan theaters to 10 across China, and advanced his business in TV and movies.
Most of the listed celebrities are from the film industry, with 12 of the top-20 celebrities involved in film as their main business. In 2009, China’s box office totaled 6.2 billion yuan, making it one of the world’s 10 largest movie markets. There were also 12,910 TV episodes and 402 TV series that passed censorship in 2009. Zhao Benshan and Zhang Guoli, who ranked 60th, both earned considerable profits in directing, performing, producing and selling TV series.
Evaluation standards for the celebrity list
According to Forbes, the celebrity’s income and media exposure are the two key factors for evaluation. Their exposure on the Internet, in newspapers, magazines and on TV programs serves as a barometer of their popularity. Evaluating the exposure rate involves 28 mainstream newspapers, 18 nationwide TV programs and cover stories from 29 magazines.
By People’s Daily Online
Forbes china list in more detail