Who is Guo Meimei, the notorious Chinese social media influencer? She flaunted Maserati supercars and luxury handbags on Weibo, but she’s also been embroiled in scandals

Mar 23 , 2021

Guo Meimei in a typically showy social media post. Photo: Weibo

The internet celebrity was jailed for gambling in 2015 and sparked a scandal after revealing how she made her money on a national CCTV broadcast

Chinese media have reported Guo Meimei among a group arrested by Shanghai police on March 11 for selling prohibited weight loss products featuring Sibutramine

Recently news that Chinese wanghong Guo Meimei has been arrested broke across the nation’s social media. It’s the second time the notorious internet influencer has been taken in by Chinese law enforcement, following her gambling offences in 2014. A year later, the then-24-year-old was sentenced to five years in prison for operating a private gambling business in Beijing, and was released in July 2019.

On March 11, Shanghai police arrested a group of people who produce and sell weight loss products that contain Sibutramine, a prohibited ingredient in China. The list of names announced by officials included a 30-year-old woman surnamed Guo, who was later confirmed by Chinese media as Guo Meimei.

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So who’s the internet influencer and why has she been embroiled in trouble?

Guo Meimei, pictured here in 2011, ignited outrage with social media posts just like this one. Photo: AFP

Born in 1991 in Hunan province, Guo was one of the first generation of Chinese influencers, but she got famous for infamous reasons. In 2011, Guo posted a series of pictures of her extravagant lifestyle on Weibo, in which she either sported high jewellery or limited-edition Hermès purses, or was seen driving pricey supercars. While flaunting wealth is not exactly a crime, it was the description on her social media account, which claimed she was general manager of a firm called Red Cross Commerce, that caused public anger, as well as attracting the attention of officials.

The affair prompted Chinese netizens to raise doubts about the misuse of donations to the Red Cross organisation, which later denied any association with Guo and specified that the institution had never established a branch called Red Cross Commerce. Despite this, the charity institution received a great deal of negative publicity and distrust from the public.

Weibo later clarified that the platform did not take enough time to examine Guo’s information, and removed her as a verified account.

How lavish was her lifestyle?

Guo Meimei showing off diamond jewellery. Photo: Weibo