Financial Transactions in Digital Asia

People’s Republic of Desire is a film produced by Hao Wu and released in 2018. It portrays the lives of live streaming hosts on the Chinese platform YY. This popular platform is China’s video-based version of social media, as of 2018 it has over 300 million users. Hallanan (2018) admits that “It’s a massive business, and live streaming is an important part of this revolution”. 

The film relates to the subtheme of financial transactions in Asia, as “China has been one of the most extensive adopters of digital payment platforms, becoming a world leader in the span of a few years” (Antique, 2019). There is a virtual currency that users can earn by live streaming karaoke, dancing or interacting with their fans. This money is then converted into real currency.

One of the most prominent aspects of the film that stood out to me was…