Li Ziqi is expected to come back soon? It may not be considered in the short term, MCN is optimistic about returning to the top stream

Fan Jialai, the Paper reporter, and Jiang Jixuan, Wu Yuxin's intern, "disappeared," for almost 600 days. Then came word of Li Ziqi’s return. According to the official "Weinian", Hangzhou Weinian Brand Management Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred as "Weinian") and Li Ziqi came to an agreement under the mediation of Mianyang Intermediate People's Court.

Fan Jialai, Wu Yuxin's intern Jiang Jixuan is The Paper reporter

Nearly 600 days later, news about Li Ziqi's return came out.

According to "Weinian", Hangzhou Weinian Brand Management Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred as "Weinian") and Li Ziqi came to an agreement under the mediation of Mianyang Intermediate People's Court.

It was reported previously that Li Ziqi would make a return in the near future.

According to insiders, Li Ziqi might not be considering a comeback in short-term but will maintain a cooperative relationship in the future with Weinian.

Sources close to Li Ziqi claim that the parties reached a settlement after Wei Nian withdrew from the lawsuit.

Li Ziqi takes back control of the company

Li Ziqi just overcame a major life crisis and is now in a new phase of figuring out her goals. The Paper reporter was told by a person who knew Li Ziqi that she had not updated her video in over a year. However, anyone who has followed Li Ziqi know that she has done things to help the farmers and the poor. Some of her experiences during the 500-day break have helped her think more.

Taobao Live published an article following the news about the reconciliation. However, it did not address whether Li Ziqi would begin live broadcasting on Taobao in the future.

The Tianyancha APP reveals that Sichuan Ziqi Culture Communication Co. Ltd. (hereinafter referred as "Ziqi Culture") recently underwent a series of industrial and commercial changes. Pu Qianyun, the founder of Weinian was promoted to supervisor; Hangzhou Weinian Brand Management Co. Ltd.'s shareholding ratio rose from 49% to 99%, while Li Ziqi (Li Jiajia's) shareholding ratio rose from 49% to 99% to APP.

Li Ziqi, the current suspected controller of the company is Li Ziqi, and Liu Tongming, the shareholder and executive, has withdrawn.

Li Ziqi's fame in the eyes of the rest of the world is inseparable with Liu Tongming. Wei Nian was founded by Liu Tongming.

Wei Nian's description states that Liu Tongming initially paid attention to Li Ziqi and sent him an invitation to cooperate.

The two sides reached an agreement after communication and contact. In September 2016, the cooperation was officially launched. Li Ziqi, who was devoted to content creation, provided Weibo with promotional services.

Mitte 2017 Weinian and Li Ziqi founded Ziqi Culture. The labor division between the companies is as follows: Ziqi Culture is responsible to create content, while Li Ziqi is responsible for commercializing Li Ziqi IP.

The "sweet period" between them did not last: Ziqi Culture brought Wei Nian, Liu Tongming and other parties to court in October 2021.

Conflict between Li Ziqi & Wei Nian could be a result of Li Ziqi's ownership of the Internet celebrity IP, "Li Ziqi".

While Li Ziqi and Weinian jointly created Li Ziqi, it is unclear who owns the IP for the Li Ziqi brand.

Hangzhou Weinian registered Li Ziqi’s Tmall flagship shop, Li Ziqi’s YouTube account, and other important monetization channels in the company's name after the signing of the contract.

It has no connection to Li Ziqi.

Public information indicates that Li Ziqi's IP is of high commercial value.

Official opening of Li Ziqi's Tmall shop with the same name was in August 2018.

The sales of the store, which only had 5 products, surpassed 10 million yuan within 6 days.

Close to 500 million Yuan was spent on store sales in 2019.

Dolphin Think Tank data shows that the 2020 sales of Liziqi will exceed 1.6 billion Yuan. This is a more than 200% increase year-over-year. Hangzhou Weinian will be able to profit more than 300,000,000 yuan from snail noodles in 2020.

Li Ziqi may have regained his personal IP due to the current equity change.

"Weinian withdrew from the lawsuit as a voluntary action, and not because Li Ziqi requested it." The identity of the person mentioned above was provided by Li Ziqi.

Is he able to return to the top stream following his comeback?

The Paper reports that Li Ziqi has nearly 98.13million fans on domestic social media platforms as of December 30, at 20:00. This includes 26.398 million users on Weibo and 51.0949 millions on Douyin. 3.208 million books. Li Ziqi had over 100 million followers before he stopped updating.

Li Ziqi also has 17.3 millions subscribers on YouTube, an international video platform.

The short video industry underwent drastic changes after Li Ziqi suspended updates for over a year. It is hard to predict if it will return to the top spot if it does. Zhang Yi, CEO of iiMedia Consulting, told The Paper that "especially it is the track for rural food, after Li Ziqi ended, a large amount of imitators emerged, and there is intense competition at the moment."

Zhang Yi believes that internet celebrities from home are rarely as popular as those from overseas. Li Ziqi could start by building a large fan base overseas and paying more attention to the short video market overseas.

"Li Ziqi is already on a path to commercialization success. He just needs to keep going. Li Ziqi's snail powder is one example. However, the content of these products must still be based in the village and approved by brand authorization. Live streaming can help you realize the potential value of traffic. Pan Helin, codirector and researcher at the Digital Economy and Financial Innovation Research Center at Zhejiang University International Business School, spoke to reporters.

"We media is also path dependent. Once you have mastered a method of commercial monetization, you won't be able to change it without permission. This route has proven to be successful. The product categories that Li Ziqi covers would have been extremely rich if it wasn't for the lawsuit. Li Ziqi won't open a factory, but he will continue to make products on OEM. He is very familiar with IP well. Pan Helin stated.

While the exact date of Li Ziqi’s return is not yet known, MCN sources indicated that they were optimistic about Li Ziqi’s return to the top after his comeback.

"Li Ziqi has a unique IP that is highly visible and has a profound cultural and social influence. He is one of the few Internet stars who can compete with him. After his return, it is easy to get back in the public eye. A MCN representative spoke out honestly.