Chinese Celebrities Given Social Responsibility Rankings

List from Beijing Normal University and Chinese Academy of Social Sciences puts ‘Dying to Survive’ actor at the top and the recently disappeared Fan Bingbing at the bottom.

TFBoys. Photo: Weibo.

Chinese celebrities may score high in popularity, but most rank low when it comes to social responsibility, according to research published Sunday.

Only nine of the 100 television and film personalities, a group that includes top names like Fan Binbing and Jackie Chan, passed a “social responsibility assessment” conducted by Beijing Normal University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The celebrities were evaluated on three criteria — professional work, charitable work, and integrity — based on information collected from media reports published in the past year.

Xu Zheng, the star of this summer’s hit black comedy “Dying to Survive,” ranked No. 1 on the social responsibility list, followed by beloved boy band TFBoys. The high scores were awarded because of the celebrities’ images as “relatively strong role models,” according to the report. While “Dying to Survive” has been acclaimed for reflecting the struggles of cancer patients in attaining affordable medication, the TFBoys trio has won over fans with their philanthropy work as well as their catchy tunes.

Zhang Hongzhong, the communications professor at Beijing Normal University who headed the project, told Sixth Tone that the report marks the first time celebrities have been evaluated in terms of social responsibility. “We wanted to have a more thorough evaluation of celebrities instead of simply labeling them as ‘little fresh meats,’” he said, using a term commonly applied to handsome young men. Read the full article here.

– This is original content by Sixth Tone and has been republished with permission.