Fan Bingbing: Missing Chinese film star given 0% 'social responsibility' rating, sparking arrest fears

X-Men actor goes missing following accusations of tax evasion

Fan Bingbing alongside X-Men co-star Hugh Jackman (Instagram/Fan Bingbing)

A missing film star has been given a 0 per cent “social responsibility” rating by Chinese authorities, fuelling fears she may have been detained by state officials.

Fan Bingbing, who starred in the 2014 Hollywood film X-Men: Days of Future Past, came last in a ranking of 100 celebrities judged on their professional lives, charitable work and what was described as their personal integrity, according to the state-run China Daily.

The 2017-18 China Film and Television Star Social Responsibility Report, which was authored by academics at Beijing Normal University, was shared widely by Chinese state media.

The zero rating for Bingbing, China’s best-paid actor, comes four months after a Chinese TV presenter appeared to accuse the star of tax evasion.

Although her studio denied any wrongdoing, Chinese internet users speculated the two were related.

Bingbing has not been since 1 July when she visited a children’s hospital, local media has reported. Her last activity on social media came on 23 July, when she “liked” a number of posts on the Sina Weibo microblogging site.

Last week, state-run publication Securities Daily reported the actor had been placed “under control, and will accept the legal decision” of authorities.

It claimed Bingbing’s alleged tax evasion was “only the tip of the iceberg”, adding: “She is also suspected of participating in illegal lending and other forms of corruption. In the worst case, she faces legal punishment.”

The story was removed a few hours after publication, according to the New York-based Epoch Times.

Of the 100 Chinese actors, singers and public figures in the report, only nine were judged to have “passed” by receiving a score of 60 per cent or more. It praised those who had become “relatively strong role models”, but highlighted cases where celebrities had caused a “negative” social impact.

Xu Zheng, a Chinese actor who co-produced and starred in 2018’s Dying to Survive, came top of the list, while Hollywood star Jackie Chan, despite his well-known philanthropy, was ranked 42nd.

The authors of the report provided little detail on how they calculated scores, but revealed results were based on “research and web-scraping”.

Zhang Hongzhong, a communications professor who led the project, told a Chinese media outlet it was the first time celebrities in China had been evaluated for social responsibility.

“We wanted to have a more thorough evaluation of celebrities instead of simply labelling them as ‘little fresh meats',” he said, referencing a term in China used to describe handsome young men.