Bai Bing, a Chinese short-video influencer about food, is fined for tax evasion totaling over 9 million yuan. Photo: screenshot from the official website of the State Taxation Administration

Bai Bing, a popular food review and short-video influencer on Chinese social media, has been penalized for tax evasion exceeding 9 million yuan ($1.31 million), China's State Taxation Administration revealed on its official website on Tuesday.

An investigation based on big data analysis revealed that between 2021 and 2024, Bai underpaid individual income tax, value-added tax, deed tax, and other fees totaling 9.118 million yuan. He did so by reclassifying income and filing false returns, according to the State Taxation Administration.

In October 2025, tax authorities ordered Bai to pay the overdue taxes, late fees, and a fine, amounting to 18.91 million yuan in total, in accordance with the law. All sums have since been fully recovered.

Tax officials stated that evading taxes through reclassifying income or filing false returns not only leads to losses of state revenue but also seriously disrupts economic and tax order. Authorities will continue to strictly crack down on tax violations while optimizing services, in order to promote orderly and healthy development of the live-streaming and online content industry.

Bai Bing has been active on short-video platforms such as Douyin. As of Tuesday, he has over 40 million followers on Douyin, according to a screenshot of his homepage.