China Caps Film Star Salaries; Says Entertainment Industry Promoting ‘Money Worship’

Blaming the entertainment industry for promoting ‘money worship’ and ‘distorting family values’ Chinese authorities have now passed an order capping the amount of money that can be paid to on-screen performers, The Guardian has reported.

The cast can now be paid a maximum of 40 per cent of the total production cost and the lead actors cannot receive more than 70 per cent of that, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported. The statement was released jointly by five departments of the government including the tax department.

The measure has been applied after an expose by a Chinese TV presenter who showed fake contracts being signed by Chinese celebrities to evade taxes. Several Chinese celebrities were named in by the TV presenter for having committed tax evasions in a similar manner.

The ban has been welcomed by several Chinese netizens who were wary of the large amounts of money being paid to the celebrities.

“Society has given them too much and look at what they give back,” a user wrote on Sina Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter.

Others were sceptical of the new rule saying that several similar directives in the past have failed to bring about any real change.