Over the past week, the esports industry in China has seen several key partnerships, developments related to esports teams, and a major livestreaming platform shut down its service.
Among the top stories: the Chinese government finally confirmed two esports professions – esports operator and esports professional; Panda TV officially shut down its streaming service to the public, and ended its sponsorship deal with Invictus Gaming; IG’s League of Legends team signed a streaming deal with Douyu; F1 partnered with Shanghai Juss Intellisports; and ImbaTV revealed a partnership with ZOWIE GEAR to open a branded luxury esports internet coffee bar.
Every week The Esports Observer presents the biggest esports business news in China, including investments, acquisitions, sponsorships, and other major news from the region.
Chinese Government Confirms Two Esports Professions
Credit: China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security
On April 3, China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (CMHRSS) announced that “esports professional” and “esports operator” have been officially confirmed as two new professions in the country, alongside. According to CMHRSS, ”esports professional” will use the government designation code “4-13-05-03,” while esports operator will use “4-13-99-00.”
In this official announcement, CMHRSS said that “esports operator is the esports individuals who engaged in organization esports activities and content operations in the industry,” and that “the esports professionals is the esports individuals who compete in esports professional tournaments, perform in esports event, or those who also train with pro players.”
It should be noted that when the CMHRSS identified these two esports professions on Feb 6, the early language claimed that one of the main jobs of an “esports professionals” used a Chinese term that refers to “account boosting.” This term caused plenty of negative discussions in the industry, due to account boosting being strictly forbidden in professional esports. In this new announcement, CMHRSS used “acting professional esports training program” to replace “account boosting.”
Panda TV Officially Closes Streaming Service to the Public
Credit: Panda TV
On March 30, Chinese streaming company Panda TV officially closed its website to the public, streaming service ended in 1286 days.
On March 8, Panda TV announced that the company was in a potential bankruptcy, posting an image of its panda mascot facing a sunset, alongside the word “Bye.” The reasons behind this bankruptcy have not yet been officially published.
Panda TV was founded in 2015 by Chinese businessman Wang Sicong, with registered capital ¥20M RMB ($2.98M USD). In 2018, Panda TV was considered the third biggest streaming platform in China, followed by Huya and Douyu. Sicong claimed at the 2018 Panda TV’s annual conference that he believed Panda TV would become the best streaming platform in China. Sicong also founded the esports organization Invictus Gaming (IG) and production company Banana Culture.
Panda TV had strong business ties with Invictus Gaming – the streaming service was one of its three sponsors, alongside hardware brand CORSAIR 
