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ABC News
ABC News
Business
By Wing Kuang

China's Lipstick King Austin Li was a rich influencer adored by Beijing officials. One mistake triggered his downfall

China Eric Liu Beijing United States Jack Ma Weibo Alibaba Chinese Communist Party Uni Tiananmen
Austin Li has been nicknamed the "Lipstick King" after selling 15,000 lipsticks in five minutes through a live stream service.  (Supplied: Austin Li's Weibo )

For Austin Li's millions of fans, the evening of June 3 started like any of his other live stream sales events on Taobao, the biggest e-commerce platform in China.

On this particular night, he was selling an ice cream believed to be Viennetta, an iconic and beloved Australian sweet. 

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