PUBLISHED ONJanuary 03, 2023 1:38 AMByJolynn ChiaThe China entertainment scene has been on the rise in recent years and some actors can draw millions of followers to their social media accounts.
Who are the most popular up-and-coming young Chinese actors right now? Here are 20 stars in their 20s you should look out for.
Wang Yibo debuted in 2014 as the main dancer and rapper in the South Korean-Chinese boy band Uniq and his popularity has since sky-rocketed — the 25-year-old now has a whopping 40 million followers on his Weibo account.
When he was a child, he had myocarditis, a disease that causes inflammation of the heart muscle, which forced him to give up dancing and undergo treatment. When he recovered, he had to learn to dance from scratch again.
In 2019, Yibo starred in the drama series The Untamed, adapted from a novel, as one of two male leads alongside Xiao Zhan. He gained attention for playing a man who develops romantic feelings towards another man. Due to China's ban of LGBT films, explicit romance scenes were replaced with homoerotic subtexts.
Having gained international popularity for his portrayal, he got shortlisted into the 2019 Forbes China's Celebrity 100 and 30 Under 30 list, which honours young people below 30 years old who have made a significant impact in their fields.
Besides being an actor, he is a songwriter, too. In December 2019, he released his single No Sense, which is his first attempt at songwriting. Six million digital copies of the song were sold within 20 minutes of its release.
Since 2019, Yibo has been a member of the Yamaha China Racing Team as a professional road motorcycle racer. In August 2019, he participated in the Asia Road Racing Championship in Zhuhai International Circuit and won second place in the mixed competition and first place in the rookie division.
The Untamed is streaming on iQiyi.
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Bai Lu, 28, began her acting career in 2015 in a short film titled Meeting You Is Such A Good Thing and her subsequent short films all gained online popularity.
Since 2018, she has won multiple acting and popularity awards, including the Newcomer award at the 7th iQiyi All-Star Carnival for the TV series Untouchable Lovers.
In the following year, she won best actress for the series Arsenal Military Academy in the Actors of China Award Ceremony. She also won best actress for her drama One and Only in 34th Huading Awards. Earlier in 2022, she won the Outstanding Actress of the Year for the series Forever and Ever in the Chinese American TV Festival — Golden Angel Awards.
Bai Lu, who has 18.8 million followers on Weibo, is an avid reader and has her own unique writing style.
While enrolled as a foreign language student in Changzhou Technical Institute of Tourism and Commerce, she participated in the Jiangsu Provincial Essay Writing Competition and emerged first place.
Bai Lu's 2022 drama Ordinary Greatness, a story about four police trainees, as well as Arsenal Military Academy are streaming on iQiyi.
Guan Xiaotong's father Guan Shaozeng was a TV actor, and her grandfather Guan Xuezeng was the founder of Beijing Qinshu, a form of folk opera based on Qing and Ming dynasty music.
Her family encouraged a passion for the arts from an early age and she first starred in the arthouse film Nuan in 2003 at the age of four. In 2016, she was admitted into the Beijing Film College majoring in acting after emerging first in both the practical and written sections in the Chinese College Entrance Examinations.
The 25-year-old is known for her roles in the films The Left Ear (2015) and Shadow (2018). She played a jealous and spoilt girlfriend of the male lead in The Left Ear. In Shadow, she played the sister of the king of Pei kingdom who is given in marriage to Yang Ping, the son of the commander of Kingdom of Yang, in order to maintain peace in the two kingdoms.
Fondly regarded as the "Nation's Daughter" in China, Xiaotong, who has 34.5 million followers on Weibo, is considered one of four most popular and outstanding actresses born after 1990. In 2017, Forbes China listed her in their Forbes 30 under 30 Asia list.
One of her newest shows include a lead role in season two of Twenty Your Life On, playing a top beauty and skincare livestreamer with many ups and downs in her career.
Season one of Twenty Your Life On is available on iQiyi and Netflix.
Wendy Zhang is currently attending the Beijing Film Academy and considered one of the brightest young talents in China, having been acting since 2008.
In Inference Notes (2017), the 21-year-old plays a schizophrenic with two vastly different personalities — one is a quirky and prideful young girl, while the other is a detective with impressive deductive reasoning skills.
In 2018, she was nominated for best supporting actress in the 55th Golden Horse Awards for her role in Last Letter. She also swept the Best Actress awards in Huading Awards, Asian Film Awards, Golden Rooster Awards, Changchun Film Festival and Hundred Flowers Awards for her role in Sister.
By winning best newcomer in the Hundred Flowers Awards for Aftershock in 2012, Wendy, with close to 16 million followers on Weibo, became the youngest-ever winner of the prestigious Awards.
She is also famously regarded as one of the New Four Dan actresses born after 1995, along with Wen Qi, Zhang Xueying and Guan Xiaotong.
One of her most notable roles is as Lin Zhaoxi in The Heart of Genius (2022), where she plays the daughter of a maths genius who travels across multiple dimensions and timelines.
The Heart of Genius is streaming on iQiyi.
Leo Wu was scouted in 2002 when he was only three years old and appeared in a TV commercial. His adorable grin became a beloved trademark, thus opening up many opportunities in showbiz. He was featured in more than 50 commercials and made minor appearances in numerous shows for the next two years.
China listed Leo in their 30 Under 30 Asia 2017 list. In 2018, he enrolled in Beijing Film Academy, the biggest film studies institution in Asia, coming in first in the examinations with an impressive score of 92.85 out of 100, and also 456 out of 600 in the College Entrance Examinations.
In 2021, Leo starred in the acclaimed historical drama The Long Ballad (2021) alongside Dilraba Dilmurat and was highly praised for his portrayal, which further boosted his popularity. The 23-year-old now has close to 48 million followers on Weibo.
While filming a scene in August of 2021, a prop malfunctioned and exploded in Leo's face. He insisted that the injuries were minor and only headed to the hospital after filming. At the hospital, however, it was revealed that numerous wounds were left on his face from the shrapnel, some of which almost ended up in his eyes. He has made a full recovery since then.
The Long Ballad and Nothing But You is streaming on iQiyi while Love like the Galaxy is streaming on Viu.
Rosy Zhao, who studied fashion and design at Taiwan's Mingdao University, was inducted into the entertainment industry with 2016's Super Girl, a popular China singing contest for females. The same year, she hosted the variety show Mars Intelligence Agency and made her acting debut with a supporting role in the web drama Cinderella Chef the following year.
Though she started her showbiz career in hosting, her many acting roles have been highly popular. In 2018, Rosy landed her first leading role in the time-travel historical drama Oh! My Emperor, which gained a sizeable following online and led to increased recognition for her. She also received the newcomer award at the Golden Bud — the Third Network Film And Television Festival in 2019 for her role.
The 24-year-old, who has over 23 million followers on Weibo, then starred in the historical romance drama The Romance of Tiger and Rose, earning her numerous awards including best actress and best newcomer at the Huading Awards.
During her undergraduate years, she stepped in as a runway model for her school's product showcase and also filmed a video recommending different types of Taiwanese instant noodles.
Rosy's fantasy romance drama Who Rules the World is streaming on Netflix.
Marius Wang has been involved in both music and performance since young, receiving multiple awards for his performances while in music school. In 2015, he was admitted into Central Drama College, coming in second among all male applicants. Two years later, he clinched his first acting role playing an immortal male elder in the drama Lost Promise.
The 26-year-old is a versatile actor, switching between many diverse drama genres and characters and even acting in musicals a few times.
In 2019, Marius, who has eight million followers on Weibo, gained recognition after starring in the xianxia drama The Untamed and received widespread praise for his role as Jiang Cheng.
Xianxia is a genre similar to wuxia (martial arts) but includes more magical fantastical elements like magical creatures, demons, fairies and spirits.
He got another big break in 2021 playing a scheming supporting character in the ancient youth drama Rebirth For You.
Rebirth For You is available on iQiyi while The Untamed is on Netflix.
Tian Xiwei graduated from Shanghai Theatre Academy and officially entered showbiz with her role in the 2018 youth romance series Waiting For You In A Long Time. In 2019, she received widespread attention for her role in My True Friend, where she played Xi Shan, an adorable minor supporting character.
Her innocent looks attracted many fans — she has close to five million followers on Chinese social media Weibo — and netizens even deem she has the ideal "first-love face" as her looks conjures up memories of their carefree youthful romances.
Recently, in December 2022, when attending a fashion event organised by GQ magazine, the 25-year-old was criticised as insensitive when answering a question about what she would give up for the art of performing. In response, she answered "my life" and then giggled out loud. It was interpreted to be a sarcastic remark mocking actor Zhang Yixing, who had replied the same thing recently.
Xiwei has also been rumoured to have had an eventful time in high school. She was said to have smoked, cheated in tests, been involved in fights and had numerous boyfriends. This has caused some uproar among audiences and fans alike.
Xiwei's drama New Life Begins and First Love are showing on iQiyi.
Song Weilong seems to have a proclivity towards classic martial arts since young. Since watching the action movie The New Legend of Shaolin starring superstar Jet Li, he learned kung fu for a year, before enrolling in martial arts school.
While he was in junior high, he uploaded a video that gained traction, later propelling him into his model career and then acting career. Weilong dreamt of becoming an action star like Jackie Chan and Wu Jing, and considered becoming a professional wushu instructor.
He entered showbiz in 2016 with his first drama Demon Girl II. In 2019, he starred in the youth romance film Love The Way You Are alongside Vivian Sung as a nerdy and socially awkward student, which won him fans and the best new actor award at the China Movie Channel Media Awards.
Forbes China also included him in their 30 Under 30 Asia 2019 list. In 2020, Weilong starred in the romantic-comedy drama series Find Yourself alongside Victoria Song. The series was a hit, leading to his popularity skyrocketing. That same year, he was ranked 45th on the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list.
Weilong plays the lead role Zhang Ping, a poor scholar with sharp observational skills and critical thinking talent, in A League of Nobleman, which is estimated to be released in 2023.
The 23-year-old, who currently has 14.1 million followers on Weibo, was also selected by luxury brands like Burberry and Emporio's Armani accessories for endorsements.
Find Yourself is streaming on Netflix. In a Class of Her Own is streaming on iQiyi.
Before debuting as an actor, Hu Yitian worked briefly as a model and he made his official debut in a minor role in the youth drama Rush to the Dead Summer (2017).
The 29-year-old is most well-known for his roles in A Love So Beautiful (2017), My Roommate is a Detective (2020) and Handsome Siblings (2020). For his role in A Love So Beautiful, Yitian won the Most Promising Actor award at the 11th Tencent Video Star Awards, and also the New Generation Young Actor award in the 9th China TV Drama Awards.
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In 2019, Yitian, who has 20.2 million followers on Weibo, was featured in the esports romance comedy drama Go Go Squid! as an introverted gaming genius, an enigmatic character who instantly captured many hearts. The same year, Forbes China listed him in their 30 Under 30 Asia list.
Most recently, Yitian starred in iQiyi's Checkmate, the first Chinese adaptation of Agatha Christie's mystery novels. He plays Situ Yan, the handsome and younger version of legendary detective Hercule Poirot, and solves classic cases inspired by Christie's novels. In September 2022, Yitian also acted in time travelling drama See You Again.
As he stands at a towering 188cm, it is usually difficult to capture him and his acting partner in the same camera shot due to their drastic height discrepancy. Most times, a compromise has to be made by one of them — either the actress would have to wear heels or stand on a higher platform, or Yitian would have to bend down.
See You Again is showing on iQiyi and Viu. Checkmate is streaming on iQiyi.
Before entering showbiz, Dylan Wang was a flight attendant and poster model, and had gained admission into Sichuan Southwest College of Civil Aviation.
In 2016, he won first place in the state-wide Sichuan Campus Popularity Contest, proving his popularity among college students in the province. In June 2017, Dylan participated in the Youku variety show Super Idol and emerged the final winner.
The 24-year-old's claim to fame was in the Chinese adaptation of Meteor Garden as Dao Ming Si, and he won the Most Influential TV Drama Newcomer of the Year award in the 2019 Golden Data Entertainment Award.
In the drama series Love Between Fairy And Devil (2022), Dylan stars as the demon prince Dongfang Qingcang who finds himself attracted to the gentle young fairy played by Esther Yu. The show became the fourth-most popular iQiyi drama in history.
Dylan, who has 16.9 million followers on Weibo, is fond of basketball and has taken part in basketball contests. In September 2019, Dylan participated in the Super Penguin Basketball Celebrity Game and was part of the red team, who won the game. Due to his exceptional height of nearly 190cm, he has certain advantages on gaming shows.
Love between Fairy and Demon and Unchained Love, also starring Dylan, are streaming on iQiyi and Netflix.
Esther Yu attended Lasalle College of the Arts in Singapore and graduated with a degree in Fashion Media and Industries. With parents who are real estate moguls and own several companies, she is also a shareholder of many businesses.
In 2015, she made her acting debut in the wuxia drama Border Town Prodigal. In 2020, she participated in the variety programme Youth With You season 2 and became one of the most popular trainees on the show. She successfully debuted as a member of girl group THE9 that same year.
She also gained popularity and recognition with her role as a likeable university student in the hit romance drama Find Yourself, which led to her nomination for the Audience's Choice award at the 30th China TV Golden Eagle Award 2020. Esther was included in the 2020 Forbes China 30 Under 30 list.
In 2022, she stars in iQiyi's Love Between Fairy and Devil, where she plays Xiao Lan Hua, a lively fairy who falls in love with the evil demon prince Dongfang Qingcang played by Dylan Wang. In 2023, she is expected to appear in Sword And Fairy, which is adapted from the popular Chinese RPG game.
The 27-year old, who currently has 16.9 million followers on Weibo, is known for playing innocent and cheerful characters, which is identical to her real personality. In many of her popular roles, she is innocent and optimistic, quirky and carefree, embodying the "cheerful girl" stereotype.
Love Between Fairy And Devil streams on iQiyi and Netflix, while Find Yourself is streaming on Netflix.
Zhang Linghe, who majored in Electrical Engineering due to his interest in physics, made his showbiz debut in the 2020 period drama series Maiden Holmes. He followed with roles in Maiden Holmes and Sparkle Love.
In January 2021, he won the New Force of the Year award at the Fifth Jinguduo Network Film and Television Festival.
The 25-year-old, who has 5.4 million followers on Weibo, also starred as Chang Heng in iQiyi's Love Between Fairy And Devil, opposite Dylan Wang and Esther Yu. In 2023, he will take on a lead role in another iQiyi production, Story of Kunning Palace, opposite renowned actress Bai Lu.
In September 2022, his rumoured relationship with Bai Lu attracted much attention, with many fans urging him to focus on his career instead. Linghe is also well-known for his tendency to reveal blunt facts about himself even when they are unflattering. When asked in an online comment what to do when he has a pimple breakout on his face, he candidly admitted that he would apply camera filters to look better.
Love Between Fairy And Devil is streaming on iQiyi and Netflix.
[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9efZStsAV4[/embed]
Xu Kai, who now has 20 million followers on Weibo, entered showbiz after winning a print ad modelling contest held in Guangzhou in 2013.
In 2018, he starred in the historical romance drama Untouchable Lovers, followed by palace drama Story of Yanxi Palace, where he gained mainstream recognition for his role as Fucha Fuheng.
Xu Kai is also known for his roles in Arsenal Military Academy (2019) and he was awarded the Promising Actor Award at the 7th iQiyi All-Star Carnival in 2018. Forbes China also listed him in their 30 Under 30 China 2019 list.
In 2020, Xu Kai won the Best Progress Award in Tencent Video All Star Award, as well as Breakthrough Artist of the Year in the 17th Esquire Man at His Best Awards. In 2022, he acted in Royal Feast, She and Her Perfect Husband, as well as Lost in the Kunlun Mountains.
In She and Her Perfect Husband, some viewers found the huge age gap between the 27-year-old and onscreen partner Yang Mi, 36, to be controversial.
Lost in the Kunlun Mountains, She and Her Perfect Husband, Arsenal Military Academy and Story of Yanxi Palace are currently streaming on iQiyi.
Elane Zhong grappled with ADHD when she was young and her mother sent her for dance classes at the age of three. In 2010, she enrolled in Shanghai Theatre Academy where she initially majored in folk dance before switching to acting.
In 2017, Elane received widespread attention for her role as Xiao Huizi, a beautiful young dancer in Feng Xiaogang's film Youth. The following year, she won three best newcomer awards in the 12th Asian Film festival, 23rd Huading Awards and 25th Beijing College Student Film Festival, all for her role in the film Youth.
Elane was included in the 2019 Forbes China 30 under 30 list and also ranked 86th in the 2020 Forbes China's List of Famous People.
The 29-year-old, who has eight million followers on Weibo, is currently starring alongside Xu Kai in iQiyi's series Lost in the Kunlun Mountains.
Since young, Elane has enjoyed Maggie Cheung's films immensely, including Center Stage (1991), Ashes of Time (1994), In the Mood for Love (2000), and Clean (2004). She also mentioned that she is heavily influenced by veteran actors like Fann Wong, Gong Li, Zhang Ziyi and Stephen Chow.
Lost in the Kunlun Mountains is now streaming on iQiyi.
Sun Yi began her showbiz career acting in arthouse films.
In 2014, she was picked from more than a thousand candidates to star in the arthouse film Pleasure, Love. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, and she won best actress at the 19th Asian New Talent Awards (2016) and Best New Actress at the 11th Chinese Young Generation Film Forum Awards (2016) for her role.
In 2015, she starred in the romantic comedy film My Dream, which was screened in competition at the 28th Tokyo International Film Festival. She became more prominent after starring in the youth melodrama Promise of Migratory Birds (2016).
In 2017, Sun Yi gained widespread popularity with her role in Because of Meeting You, adapted from Korean drama Jang Bo-Ri is Here! (2014). The series became one of the most-viewed mainland Chinese dramas of the year.
In 2017, Sun Yi and actor Dong Zijian announced they were getting married and later welcomed a baby girl in 2017. In August 2022, however, they announced on Weibo that they have gotten divorced. The 29-year-old currently has 10.9 million followers on Weibo and is an active Douyin creator.
The Wind Blows from Longxi is streaming on iQiyi.
In 2015, Chen Zheyuan officially entered showbiz after participating in a reality show which got him a place in the band Mr Bio.
In 2017, he made his acting debut in the youth drama All About Secrets; the series was a huge success, sending him to overnight fame. He is also widely known for his roles in the wuxia drama Handsome Siblings (2020) where he was praised for his portrayal of the protagonist Xiao Yu'er.
Followers of Chinese drama would have seen the 26-year-old on screen quite often this year. In February 2022, Zheyuan began filming for Legend of Sword and Fairy IV and in June, he acted in the second season of the variety show The Detectives' Adventures.
In September 2022, his rom-com Mr Bad was shown and there are four other drama series which he is confirmed to be starring in. At present, Zheyuan has over 10 million followers on Weibo
Our Secrets is currently streaming on iQiyi.
Bai Jingting is talented in both music and athletics and majored in music recording. He plays the piano excellently and achieved grade 10 in the non-professional players' level assessment. While dedicated to music, he was also a field athlete in shot put, long jump and high jump, and an avid basketballer in middle school.
He made his acting debut in the web series Back in Time (2014). He has since then earned recognition for his roles in the TV series The Whirlwind Girl (2015) and Rush to the Dead Summer (2017), as well as in the film Yesterday Once More (2016). In 2016, he experienced a rise in popularity following his stint on the variety show Who's the Murderer.
In 2019, Jingting was ranked 72nd on Forbes China Celebrity 100 list. The same year, Forbes China also listed him in their 30 Under 30 Asia list. In 2022, Jingting starred in the hit drama series Reset as video game designer Xiao Heyun, trapped in a time loop on a bus that is about to explode.
Currently, the 29 year-old has 35 million followers on Weibo.
Reset is currently streaming on Netflix. Jingting's New Life Begins is streaming on iQiyi.
Since Cheng Xiao was five years old, she has been performing Chinese dance and she graduated from School of Performing Arts Seoul in 2016 where she specialised in dance. Her younger sister Cheng Chen is now a trainee at Yuehua Entertainment.
In 2016, Cheng Xiao made her debut in WJSN, a South Korean-Chinese girl group.
That same year, Cheng Xiao, together with GFriend's Eunha, Oh My Girl's YooA, Gugudan's Nayoung and Momoland's Nancy, formed a special project group named Sunny Girls and released a single. In 2017, she participated in MBC Stars Sports Meet and got a gold medal in the artistic gymnastics category.
In 2018, Cheng Xiao gained more popularity after she was chosen as a cast member and dance mentor in the reality survival show Idol Producer. That same year, she appeared in her first period drama Legend of Awakening. In November 2018, she released her first solo song If Love, an original soundtrack for the online game Xuanyuan Sword, which debuted at number three on QQ Music.
In September 2022, together with the Space Girls, the 24-year old attended the first season of Soribada Best Music awards ceremony and received the Rising Hot Star award (New K-pop). She currently has 12.2 million followers on Weibo.
Legend of Awakening is streaming on iQiyi.
Zheng Hehuizi studied at the Beijing Contemporary Music Academy and began acting in 2015, starring in the drama series Unexpectedness 3 and Retornado and Surprise. She has since gone on to star in the film The Wild Goose Lake (2019), Love Is Fate (2019) and Ugly Beauty (2021).
The 26-year-old plays Luo Xiaoxiao in iQiyi's 2022 romance series Hello My Love, a story about three women in different stages of life grappling with their romantic lives. Huizi's character is a popular pet blogger who infiltrates a pet food company to investigate claims of poor quality and unethical products. Qin Lan and Singapore actor Lawrence Wong also stars in the drama.
Hehuizi, who has 10.2 million followers on Weibo, has shown amazing versatility in her acting repertoire, even within a single drama. In Ugly Beauty, she plays two very different characters — one is an approachable and gentle woman and the other a scheming, cunning and flamboyant actress.
Hello My Love and Song Of The Moon are currently showing on iQiyi.
jolynn.chia@asiaone.com
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