What Kanye West's blockbuster concerts reveal about the future of China’s economy

Haikou — the most populous city in Hainan, the southernmost island province of China — was little known outside of the country before September. Then, the name appeared on the social media accounts of Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, as the destination for the Vultures Listening Experience world tour.

The hard launch was immediately met with confusion. First, Ye — and China? Second, why Haikou? 

Kaycie Xun, 25, a Haikou local, thought that it was a joke when she heard the rumor that Ye would be performing in her city a few months ago. When the artist confirmed the news on Instagram, she was in disbelief. 

“The biggest show we have had here was Jay Chou (a Taiwanese musician),” she said. “The only other city in Asia that Ye toured was Seoul, so knowing that he would come to China and even choose a small city like Haikou was unimaginable to many.”

During his time in Haikou, where he traveled with his wife Bianca Censori and four kids (from his previous marriage with Kim Kardashian), Ye performed about 90 songs with the help from his collaborator Ty Dolla $ign, sang three unreleased tracks, and fueled a social media craze as people followed his footsteps through the city.

Along the way, he helped accomplish an elusive task: get Chinese consumers to spend money. According to local government data, the concert on Sept. 15 sold over 42,000 tickets, generating more than 50 million yuan, or about $7.2 million, in revenue. More than 93% of the audience were from other parts of Mainland China, and 848 came from overseas.

The show brought over 373 million yuan ($53 million) in tourism revenue. On the night of the event, Haikou’s citywide hotel occupancy rate was 83.4%. Even during the holiday season in December, the hotel occupancy rate was 70.4%, which government officials said was a historic high.

The event was such a huge economic success that the Haikou government invited Ye to add another show, which took place this past weekend. State media reported that 40,000 tickets were sold for the second show.

The double red line: censorship and the economy

The Wuyuan River Stadium turned into an open field of golden wheat, filled with red, nebulous lighting. At the center of the stage, Ye dressed in a sweatshirt that said “told you so” in Chinese. Over 40,000 belted out the lyrics alongside Ye to songs like “Runaway” and “Ghost Town,” while a vulture-branded drone circulated the stadium during “Only One.” 

Nanxin Cao, a Beijing-based concertgoer, described the experience as “surreal.” 

Yet she couldn’t help but wonder, how did the authorities allow an artist as controversial as Ye to perform here? 

Ye has been the subject of multiple lawsuits, from sexual harassment claims to concerning business practices at his sneaker brand Yeezy. Both fans and other celebrities online have also criticized his antisemitic and other offensive public comments over the years. 

Then there’s China, a country known for its stringent censorship. In 2018, China banned celebrities with tattoos and those from the hip hop “subculture” from appearing on television, forcing many local artists to rewrite their lyrics or go underground, though hip hop remains a popular genre among young people. Shows of major artists — Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, and Maroon 5 — have been abruptly canceled in China before, leading to speculation that it had something to do with their stances on political causes like Tibet. 

But China five years ago is not the China of today. Now, the government is under pressure to boost the local economy without resorting to the credit-fueled stimulus binges used to shore up activity over much of the past 15 years. And while investors are embracing Beijing’s latest stimulus measures, it remains to be seen whether these will bear fruit for the real economy.

In an interview with Pollstar, Ye’s agent Daniel McCartney said that promotors worked with the government to make the show happen. “Basically, when you book someone in China at this level, you have to have government ties, and we had some great people who worked for the government, federally and locally involved with the show,” he said.

“Ye’s politics are not as relevant to political discourse in China, especially when his music is in English.” said Weida Wang, a researcher focusing on the music industry. “People like Ye’s personality, charisma, and the music itself better.”

“Economic concern forces the government to loosen restrictions, too,” he added.

The free trade port

Among all places, Haikou seemed to be the best option to host Ye.

Unlike in major metropolitans like Beijing and Shanghai, the bureaucratic process in a smaller city like Haikou was less complicated. Only the city’s Ministry of culture and Tourism would need to approve the plan, said Yaling Jiang, a consultant who writes a newsletter called “Following the Yuan” that focuses on Chinese consumers.

But what’s more important is Hainan Island’s status as a free trade port. 

China today has 22 free trade zones, regions within the country that offer favorable conditions for foreign companies to operate. Among them, Hainan is the only free trade port. By 2025, Hainan will close its customs borders and remove all tariffs to facilitate trade, the government said. In an attempt to attract tourists, Hainan also offers a visa-free entrance policy to tourists from 59 countries. 

“The Chinese government wants to make Hainan the second Hong Kong,” Jiang said. “The local government needs to prove itself to the government.” 

That explains the work that local officials at Haikou, Hainan’s capital, poured into making Ye’s show a commercial success. Businesses everywhere — hotels, retailers and restaurants — offered fans over 100 exclusive discounts. The state-owned China Duty Free mall in Haikou curated a list of 12 benefits for shoppers, from discounts on duty-free purchases to a 27-meter (about 88 feet) tall poster of Ye that fans could take pictures with. 

As if that wasn’t enough, the government even requested that taxi drivers only play Ye’s music during the event, according to Junjie Wang, who writes the newsletter China Retail Watch.

Just about a week before Ye’s first show, the island suffered from a disastrous typhoon that caused about 60 billion yuan in damages, state media reported. “It’s still disaster relief time. The government wants to double down on the tourism revenue from Ye,” Jiang added.

Wang Ke, director of Haikou’s tourism bureau, said that the free trade port policies were key to the success of Ye’s shows. The goal was to make Haikou a destination for international shows, he said. 

Being able to accommodate high-profile events may be one way to impress Beijing, but doesn’t necessarily translate to tangible day-to-day changes for the city’s residents, regardless of the special status coming from the Free Trade Port designation.

“I’m sure that most locals feel the same as I do, that the free trade port didn’t bring us much economic benefits, said Xun, the 25-year-old Haikou resident. “While there seemed to be a lot of benefits and policy support on the surface, our living standards and infrastructure hasn't improved as much.”