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For Li Jiaqi, 27, it took less than a year to increase his bank balance to over 10 million yuan ($1.49 million) from a relatively small amount without having to rob a bank, win a lottery, find a secret treasure or land an inheritance.

His route to riches is lipstick sales online using live streams of video-sharing platforms such as Douyin.

In a recent two-hour livestreaming session, he sold 15,000 lipsticks within 5 minutes, beating billionaire Jack Ma who wanted to compete with him.