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Jan 07, 2024

Alibaba's Taobao to host Lionel Messi in live

Football superstar Lionel Messi is scheduled to show up in a live-streaming show on Alibaba Group Holding's Taobao Live platform on Wednesday evening, a day before Beijing is set to host a friendly

Football superstar Lionel Messi is scheduled to show up in a live-streaming show on Alibaba Group Holding's Taobao Live platform on Wednesday evening, a day before Beijing is set to host a friendly match between last year's World Cup champions Argentina and Australia.

The legendary football player will make a live appearance with Chinese influencer Li Xuanzhuo between 6pm to 9pm, according to a poster released by Alibaba, owner of the South China Morning Post.

Alibaba did not disclose the commercial terms related to Messi's appearance.

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A poster advertising Messi's scheduled appearance in a live-streaming show on Taobao Live. Photo: Handout alt=A poster advertising Messi's scheduled appearance in a live-streaming show on Taobao Live. Photo: Handout>

Messi, who arrived in the Chinese capital on Saturday, is set to bring much-needed traffic to Alibaba's e-commerce live-streaming platform, which is locked in a fierce battle against local rivals like PDD Holdings' Pinduoduo and ByteDance's Douyin.

The seven-time Ballon d'Or award winner will join Li, who made a name for himself by once selling more than 600,000 bottles of liquor in three months, raking in over 50 million yuan (US$7 million).

Li, who made his live-streaming debut in 2019, is represented by Foshan Yowant Technology, a so-called multichannel network firm focusing on developing influencer content. Founded in 2010, it entered the live-streaming industry in 2018 and went public in Shenzhen the same year.

While details of Wednesday's show have not been announced, a screenshot of a notice circulating on social media that was attributed to Yowant showed that the event will take place at Beijing's Four Seasons Hotel, where Messi is staying. Some 120 security guards are reportedly stationed on site.

Chinese fans wait for members of Argentina's football team outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Beijing on Saturday. Photo: AFP alt=Chinese fans wait for members of Argentina's football team outside the Four Seasons Hotel in Beijing on Saturday. Photo: AFP>

Messi, who is on his seventh trip to China, received a rock-star welcome from Chinese fans on Saturday, first at Beijing's airport after he landed on a private jet, and later outside his hotel, where he and his teammates were temporarily "trapped" by "outrageously passionate" fans, according to Chinese media reports.

Several planned activities, including a fan meet-up in Beijing's Sanlitun area, were cancelled due to security reasons.

The 35-year-old footballer, who last visited the country in 2017, will lead Argentina against Australia on Thursday at Beijing's newly renovated 68,000-seat Workers' Stadium.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2023 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2023. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

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