Hainan hosts Kanye West: Bold move fuels economic gains and public controversy

On the first day of China’s Mid-Autumn Festival holiday, popular American rapper Kanye West (now known as Ye) brought his listening party world tour to Hainan as scheduled, with the typhoon-ravaged Wuyuan River Sports Stadium in Haikou becoming a paradise for 40,000 hip-hop fans.

On the evening of 15 September, the audience burst with passion as the legendary rapper declared “I love you, Haikou” as he opened his show. The three-hour performance, his first in China in 16 years, left fans thoroughly entertained.

Many praised West’s sincerity, complimenting the exquisite stage design and his genuine effort to connect with Chinese fans, saying, “The entire stage setup was breathtaking, it was stunning!”

There were initial concerns that the concert would be cancelled due to the severe damage caused by Typhoon Yagi in Haikou. Typhoon Yagi, which made landfall on 6 September, was the strongest autumn typhoon to hit China since 1949, causing significant destruction and loss. The economic damage in Haikou alone was estimated at 26.3 billion RMB (US$3.7 billion), affecting over 1.26 million people and damaging 32,424 houses.

Wuyuan River Sports Stadium was not spared, as its rooftop was severely damaged and aluminium sheets torn off, raising concerns about whether West’s event would proceed as scheduled. Several other music festivals and events planned for mid-September had already been postponed.

However, on 9 September, the organisers announced that following assessments by experts, the concert would go on as planned.

On 12 and 13 September, the provincial and municipal cultural and tourism departments confirmed that repairs to the stadium were complete, and all necessary arrangements were in place for the event.

On its website, Haikou’s Bureau of Tourism, Culture, Radio, Television and Sports described West’s concert as “an international performance before the customs closure of the Hainan Free Trade Port, and a tourism attraction with international appeal, showcasing the city’s vision for an international tourism consumption centre”.

To realise this vision, the bureau is actively introducing popular new performances and international concerts with superstar appeal as part of its long-term strategy for high-quality tourism development. This can effectively attract international tourists and promote diversified development of the tourism industry.

On 16 September, the day after the concert, hinews.cn reported that West’s concert was the first large-scale international performance in Hainan since becoming a province. It said that the concert “shone brightly in Haikou despite being hard hit by Typhoon Yagi, showing the world the city’s resilience and openness”. 

The event had also “boosted Haikou’s branding as an entertainment capital and showcased to the world the city’s cultural charm and urban style”.

Hinews.cn is a key provincial news website supervised by the Publicity Department  and the Office of the Cybersecurity and Information Technology Committee of the Hainan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China. The official support for West’s concert has left some perplexed, with some netizens joking, “Did Ye mistake Haikou for Hong Kong?” 

Others felt that hosting a large commercial concert shortly after a natural disaster was inappropriate.

Some have openly expressed strong opposition to West’s performance in China on the Hainan provincial government’s complaint platform, even writing to the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism. They claim that “given his publicly available lyrics and personal behaviour, his artistic works and behaviour are clearly inconsistent with China’s cultural and social values”.

This backlash is understandable given West’s slew of controversies. His divisive comments have sparked widespread criticism, with some calling for boycotts.

For example, he was previously criticised for wearing a “White Lives Matter” sweater, which was seen as supporting white supremacy. He also made anti-Semitic and homophobic remarks, leading to well-known brands cutting ties with him.

In China, the state media had previously criticised hip-hop music. In 2018, Xinhua condemned Chinese rapper PG One’s songs as openly insulting women and promoting drug use among youth. It stated, “Such artists, who disrespect the industry and audience, cannot spread ‘peace and love’. Even if they have won awards, they do not deserve a spot on the hip-hop stage.”

China has been tightening its grip on foreign performers in recent years, resulting in lesser international acts coming to the country. In 2017, Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber was notably banned from performing in China. The Beijing Cultural Bureau stated that as a public figure, Bieber’s lifestyle overseas and his “words and actions” when he last performed in China had generated “public dissatisfaction”, and despite his musical talent, he is a “controversial young foreign singer”.

However, the authorities did not specify the “bad behaviour” that Bieber had allegedly committed. Some media outlets speculated back then that it could be his controversial visit to Yasukuni Shrine.  

American bands Bon Jovi and Maroon 5 were also affected, with their concerts in China suddenly cancelled. The outside world speculated that it could be due to their members’ support for Tibetan independence.

Given China’s history of rejecting performances by renowned foreign artists, West’s official approval and strong support indicate that the authorities are no longer as opposed to hip-hop music and culture as they were before. It also suggests that West’s controversies have not reached a level deemed unacceptable by the government.

Indeed, the driving factor behind West’s performance in China is the economic benefits. The New York Times reported that since China reopened its borders after the three-year-long pandemic, the government has been trying to stimulate consumer spending and promote tourism to prop up the country’s struggling economy. The report asserted that in West’s case, “objections to hip-hop may have been outweighed by the potential payoff”.

For many years, the Chinese government has been working to turn Hainan into a visa-free destination and duty-free shopping paradise to attract more world-class cultural events to the region.

In an interview with China Newsweek, Hainan University’s College of International Tourism and Public Administration Professor Liu Haiyang pointed out that hosting concerts by internationally renowned artists in Hainan will have a positive effect on the local tourism market. It not only attracts a large influx of fans, boosting spending in accommodation, dining, transportation and shopping, but also encourages them to explore nearby attractions aside from enjoying the music, further driving tourism consumption in Hainan province.

Sun Xiaorong, a member of the National Tourism Reform and Development Advisory Committee, believes that despite Hainan’s breakthrough in the performing arts industry, there are still relatively few performances featuring truly international line-ups, with the focus primarily on concerts and music festivals of Chinese singers and bands.

Given Hainan’s positioning as an international tourism island, there is still much room for improvement in widening the international tourists base. Thus, Hainan still needs to work harder on developing global marketing, and expanding channels to attract global tourists to visit and consume.

The success of West’s concert could be credited to the Hainan government’s efforts and is especially significant for Haikou, which had just faced a typhoon. Indeed, many disaster victims are still striving to return to normal life while focusing on post-disaster reconstruction to help the city recover as soon as possible. They may even be involved in the repair of the venue and preparations for the concert, ensuring the success of Hainan’s first large-scale international performance since the province was established.  

According to hinews.cn, an official from Haikou’s tourism and culture bureau affirmed that the concert “successfully boosted Haikou’s cultural and tourism consumption, promoting economic development on the one hand while achieving widespread social effects on the other”. 

Official statistics show that West’s concert generated about 51 million RMB in ticket sales and 373 million RMB in total tourism revenue for Haikou. On the night of the concert, over 95% of attendees had come from outside the island. Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Beijing accounted for 40% of attendees, while over 800 others had come from abroad as well as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.   

Also, the average occupancy rate of accommodations in the city on the event day reached 83.42%, up 41.82% year-on-year and 10.44% month-on-month. Additionally, duty-free sales reached 56 million RMB, up 4.5% year-on-year and 21.5% month-on-month.

Perhaps after witnessing West’s influence, the local government swiftly agreed to an additional show, which would reportedly take place on 28 September.

While West may be the most high-profile Western artist to perform in China after the pandemic, it remains to be seen whether this indicates a relaxation of approval processes by the Chinese authorities or is simply an isolated case. For now, the criticisms about West have been removed from official complaint platforms, and so an additional show seems inevitable, regardless of the weather. 

This article was first published in Lianhe Zaobao as “侃爷在海南开唱之后”.

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