They are the celebrities with the most followers on social media in the world, yet some of their names barely come up in English-language media at all. What’s on Weibo lists the top 10 celebrities with most followers on Weibo in 2018.

The top 5 celebrities with the most followers on Twitter have been unchanged for a long time.

They are Katy Perry (@katyperry, 107+ million followers), Justin Bieber (@justinbieber, 104+ million), Barack Obama (@BarackObama, 102+M), Rihanna (@rihanna, 88+M), and Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13, 83+M).

The top 10 of Weibo celebrities with the most followers has also barely changed over the past years. And yet, the names of Xie Na or Yang Mi might not sound as familiar to many outside of China.

After our top 10 lists of 2015 and that of 2017, here is an updated list of most popular Weibo accounts of 2018.

Although most of the names in the list are still the same as before, there are some changes too. Both AngelaBaby and Yang Mi have gained respectively more than 16 and 25 million fans since 2017. Guo Degang is no longer in the top 10, and has been taken over by the only newcomer in this top 10: Deng Chao.

Check out the latest changes and introductions here! >

1. Xie Na 谢娜

117.310.720 fans

The one and only absolute number one this list is the ‘Queen of Weibo’ Xie Na (1981), also nicknamed ‘Nana’ – the extremely popular Chinese singer, actress and designer.

One of the reasons she has become so famous in mainland China is that she is the co-host of Happy Camp (快乐大本管), which is one of China’s most popular variety TV shows. She presents the show together with, amongst others, colleague He Jiong, who is the number two in this list.

Xie Na stars in many popular Chinese films and television series. She has also released several albums, founded a personal clothing line, and published two books.

Xie Na made headlines in March 2017, becoming #1 trending topic on Weibo, when she announced she would go to Italy as an overseas student to study design.

In 2018, Xie Na participated in the Mango TV television programme ‘Viva La Romance’ (妻子的浪漫旅行), in which couples reflect on their marriage and relationship, with her husband Zhang Jie, with whom she had twin daughters earlier in 2018.

Before getting married to Chinese singer Zhang Jie, Xie Na was in a 6-year relationship with her ‘Happy Camp’ colleague Liu Ye.

2. He Jiong 何炅

105.361.428 fans

He Jiong (1974) has been the host of China’s popular Happy Camp TV show for over ten years. He is also a singer, actor, and used to be an Arabic teacher at Beijing’s Foreign Studies University. Chinese media have called He Jiong “a key figure in China’s entertainment industry.”

‘Happy Camp’ (快乐大本馆) is a prime-time variety show aired by Hunan TV. It is one of China’s most popular TV shows in China. With a viewership of tens of millions, it often holds first place in China’s total viewing ratings.

In 2017, both He Jiong and Xie Na made it to the Guinness Book of Records for being the male and female with the most Weibo followers.

3. Yang Mi 杨幂

97.106.954 fans

The beautiful actress and singer Yang Mi (1986) went from number 8 to 4 in this list since last year. She gained fame and popularity through her various roles in Chinese hit tv dramas. Born in Beijing, Yang started her acting career at the age of 4.

Yang starred in many successful tv dramas, including in Eternal Love (三生三世十里桃花) and The Interpreters (亲爱的翻译官). Yang is now seen as one of China’s biggest actresses, and also as one with the most commercial value; she recently became the brand ambassador for Estee Lauder (雅诗兰黛) in 2017 and also became a new face for Michael Kors in that same year.

This year, Yang stars in the much-anticipated movie Baby (宝贝儿), in which she plays a poor girl that is fighting for the life of a baby with disabilities.

4. Angelababy 杨颖

97.043.510 fans

‘Angelababy’ (nickname for Yang Ying aka Angela Yeung, 1989) has practically become a household name in China over the past few years. The actress and model started her acting career in 2007 and has taken on many roles in different movies and TV dramas.

Angelababy especially made headlines when she married Chinese famous actor Huang Xiaoming in 2015 and took extravagant pre-wedding photos in Paris. In the same year, she also set off a firestorm of debate when she underwent a medical examination to prove that she did not have facial plastic surgery to defend herself in a court case against a beauty clinic.

Angelababy is one of China’s “New Four Dan Actresses” according to the 2013 Southern Metropolis Daily, meaning she is generally perceived as one of China’s most bankable actresses.

5. Chen Kun 陈坤

90.616.162 fans

Chinese top actor and singer Chen Kun (1979, Chongqing) was the number 3 last year, so he lost his top 3 position to Yang Mi and Angelababy.

Chen is known for his roles in, amongst others, Painted Skin and Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress.

He also plays in 2018 Chinese television series The Rise of Phoenixes (天盛长歌), which is also available on Netflix.

Chen Kun, sometimes also known as Aloys Chen, is not only popular because of his acting work, but also for his looks – he is known to have a large gay fanbase. He is not shy about his looks, and likes to post a lot of photos of himself on his Weibo page.

6. Vicky Zhao 赵薇

84.912.880 fans

Still the number six in this list is Vicky Zhao (1976). Zhao is a Chinese film star, singer, entrepreneur and director. She is also known for her work as the face for various brands, which has added to her wealth: she was named the world’s wealthies working actress by Forbes in 2015 .

Together with actresses Zhang Ziyi, Zhou Xun and Xu Jinglei, she belongs to China’s ‘Four Dan Actresses’ (四大花旦, the four greatest actresses of mainland China) from the early 2000s. In the list of the ‘New Four Dan actresses’, there is Angelababy, number 4 in this list, who ironically is now the wife of Zhao’s former partner.

Zhao is now married to Huang Youlong, with whom she has a daughter. The couple made it to a list of the world’s wealthiest young billionaires in 2016. Zhao has a passion for wine; she bought her own vineyard in France in 2011.

Zhao Wei regularly updates her Weibo, where she posts about her work as an actress, her photoshoots, and her ambassador work for good causes.

7. Yao Chen 姚晨

80.021.355 fans

In our 2015 list of Weibo’s biggest celebrities, Yao Chen was ranking first with 78 million followers. In our 2017 list, she ranked fifth with 80,5 million. But she has dropped in the number of people following her since then, thus also has dropping a few places in this list.

Fujian-born Yao Chen (1979) is a Chinese actress and Weibo celebrity, who was mentioned as the 83rd most powerful woman in the world by Forbes magazine in 2014. Being the first-ever Chinese UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador, she is also called ‘China’s answer to Angelina Jolie’ (Telegraph).

Yao Chen is not necessarily China’s number one actress, but she was one of the first celebrities to share her personal life on Weibo since 2009, and interact with her fans. On Weibo, she talks about her everyday life, family, news-related issues, work, and fashion. She posts personal pictures every day.

The combination of her popularity due to acting work, combined with her frequent Weibo updates and closeness to her fans, have made Yao Chen a huge Weibo celebrity.

This year, Yao stars in Lost, Found, a feminism-themed film released in October.

8. Ruby Lin 林心如

76.368.428 fans

Ruby Lin Xinru (1976) is the first Taiwanese name in this list. She is an actress, producer, and singer, who especially became famous because of her role in TV drama My Fair Princess (1998). Since then she has starred in many different TV series.

Ruby is married to actor Wallace Huo, who starred in popular Chinese TV drama Ruyi’s Royal Love in the Palace (如懿传). They have one child together.

The couple has often been a target of cyberbullying, which is believed to be the reason why Huo closed his Weibo account in September of 2018. Lin posts regular updates on Weibo.

9. Deng Chao 邓超

73.968.964 fans

Deng is the only newcomer in this top 10 list. Deng Chao (1979) is a Chinese actor, director, and singer. He is, amongst others, known for his role in the popular variety program ‘Keep Running’ (奔跑吧).

Films in which Deng played, such as The Mermaid (2016) or DuckweedThe Dead End (2015).

Shadow is an upcoming Chinese historical film directed by Zhang Yimou in which Deng also stars, together with his wife Sun Li (孙俪).

10. Jimmy Lin 林志颖

71.422.326 fans

Jimmy Lin (Lin Zhiying, 1974) is a famous Taiwanese actor and singer and race car driver. He is one of the top rally racers of China, but is also very successful in his showbiz career as actor and singer.

Over the past few years, Lin’s participation in the Chinese hit reality show Where Are We Going, Dad? has contributed to his success on Weibo.

For some time Lin dated Ruby Lin, number 7 on this list. Now he is married to model Kelly Chen (陈若仪), with whom he has three children.

He regularly updates his Weibo profile, talking about his work, his personal life, and posting pictures of him with his race cars.

By Manya Koetse

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