At least 15 fan meetings and fan signing events by Korean artists in mainland China have been cancelled, postponed, or relocated since May, according to a report published October 31 by South Korean outlet Dailyan, in what it describes as a renewed tightening of China’s unofficial restrictions on Korean entertainment, often called the Hallyu ban.
The disruption, once concentrated in Shanghai, has spread to Chengdu and Beijing, and now reaches even the no-singing fan meeting format that had served as a workaround while concerts remained effectively blocked. A singer preparing a November fan meeting in China was recently told by a local contact that events for Korean artists had been urgently halted because of a domestic policy change, Dailyan reported, quoting the Chinese term in the message, “jiaoting,” denoting a stop ordered from above.
No official confirmation of any policy change has emerged. Individual cancellations have been attributed only to vague causes such as “force majeure” or “local circumstances.” China has never officially acknowledged the Hallyu ban, which dates to the THAAD deployment fallout in 2016, and therefore cannot formally announce its imposition or lifting.
Dailyan’s tally, compiled from agency and organizer notices and related reporting, counts at least 15 affected events since May, 11 of them scheduled in Shanghai. The sequence began with the joint Chengdu fan meeting of H.O.T.’s Tony An and Kangta on May 31, cancelled the day before it was due to take place. In September, fan meetings in Shanghai by Sunmi, Park Ji Hoon, and EXO’s Xiumin and Chen were cancelled, while Baekhyun’s fan meeting was postponed indefinitely. In October, fan signing events in Shanghai by TREASURE, ALPHA DRIVE ONE, and EVNNE were cancelled, FTISLAND postponed its fan meeting, and CRAVITY cancelled a Beijing fan meeting scheduled for October 24 on the day itself, citing only “local circumstances.”
Two cases illustrate the cost to fans. Former IZ*ONE member and actress Kim Min Ju had her Shanghai fan meeting pushed from September 12 to October 31, then cancelled outright on October 23. Singer Kim Jaejoong’s fan meeting in China scheduled for October 3 was also called off, and more than three weeks later ticket refunds still had not been issued. His agency, iNKODE, said on October 28 that it was pursuing legal action against the local organizer over the delayed refunds, declining to disclose details because proceedings were under way. Korea Herald Biz and Chosun Biz reported the same statement on October 29, corroborating the move. Kim Min Ju’s side said refunds plus transport and accommodation compensation would be handled through the local organizer, leaving criteria and execution in the organizer’s hands.
The cancellations cut against the cautious optimism of earlier this year. South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed at a Beijing summit on January 5 to expand cultural exchanges gradually, but Dailyan notes the first step publicly identified by Seoul covered areas such as go and football, while dramas and films were left to working-level talks. Because the restrictions operate without written rules, summit agreement does not automatically translate into permits at the local level.
That gap explains why the fan meeting format mattered. With concerts effectively closed, fan meetings built around conversation and games rather than singing had been treated as a workable space. Kim Jaejoong held fan meetings in Chongqing, Shanghai, Qingdao, and Chengdu starting in April last year; this year Tony An met fans in Shanghai in April, Lee Sung Kyung in Chengdu in May, and Chae Soo Bin in Guangzhou in August. Chinese outlet Yulezibianlun noted in May that more than 30 Korean star fan meetings had been announced in mainland China in the first five months of the year, calling the “cultural exchange” format a detour around performance permits.
The report also cautions against reading commercial openings as easing. McDonald’s China launched a G-Dragon collaboration menu at more than 8,000 mainland stores on October 8, but advertising runs through a company’s sales network, while performances and fan events need separate permits, so the campaign is not evidence the restrictions are loosening.
For now, the industry response is pragmatic. One agency official quoted in the report said agencies are increasingly staging events in Macau or Taiwan instead of the mainland, or moving Shanghai dates elsewhere, and warned uncertainty will persist unless summit agreements filter down to the local permit stage, even with the APEC summit in Shenzhen on November 18 and 19 approaching. Contracts, the official argued, should spell out refund responsibility and compensation scope before an event is promoted.
Whether this wave is a temporary chill or a longer freeze will depend on the next round of scheduled events. If November dates proceed, the cancellations may look like a short disruption; if they too fall, the fan meeting workaround that kept Korean artists in front of mainland audiences may be closing as well.
