‘Lipstick King’ Austin Li Is Back After Vanishing for Three Months

Austin Li, aka Li Jiaqi, a Chinese livestreamer with almost 65 million followers on the ecommerce platform Taobao, quietly resumed streaming on September 20.

Li, who is famous for selling 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes, abruptly disappeared from streaming platforms in early June 2022.

Many believe he was censored for promoting a tank-shaped dessert, an oblique reference to a politically sensitive event in 1989.

His two-hour show on September 20 was a complete surprise to his followers but still attracted over 63 million viewers despite a lack of social media promotion.

Li used the session to peddle products ranging from skincare to lingerie. Seventeen out of 27 items sold out during the livestream.

“Li Jiaqi is finally back. I want to buy everything!” reads a Weibo comment by one of his loyal and enthusiastic fans.

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