Wang Yibo

In this Chinese name, the family name is Wang.

Wang Yibo
王一博
Yibo in 2020
Born	(1997-08-05) 5 August 1997 Luoyang, Henan, China
Alma mater	Hanlim Multi Art School
Occupations	Actor dancer singer rapper professional motorcycle racer
Height	182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Musical career
Genres	K-pop C-pop
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	2014–present
Labels	Yuehua
Member of	Uniq

Wang Yibo (Chinese: 王一博; pinyin: Wáng Yībó, pronounced [wǎŋ.íː.pʷǒ], born 5 August 1997) is a Chinese actor, dancer, singer, rapper, and professional road motorcycle racer. He debuted as a member of South Korean-Chinese boyband Uniq in 2014. As an actor, he is best known for his roles in television series Love Actually (2017), Gank Your Heart (2019), The Untamed (2019), Legend of Fei (2020), Luoyang (2021), Being a Hero (2022) and Man of Faith (2024). Wang has made regular appearance in the Forbes China Celebrity 100 list and ranked 2nd in 2021. In 2023, Wang Yibo made his big screen lead role debut with movies Hidden Blade, Born to Fly and One and Only. His performances earned him multiple acting awards and nominations, including a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the prestigious Golden Rooster Awards for his role as a Chinese spy in espionage-thriller film Hidden Blade.

Early life and education

Wang Yibo was born on 5 August 1997 in Luoyang, Henan, China. He started dancing when he was young. During his second year in secondary school in 2011, Wang participated in IBD national dance competition and placed in the top sixteen in the hip-hop category, he then became a trainee of Yuehua Entertainment. Prior to his debut, Wang trained in South Korea and studied in Hanlim Multi Art School.

Career

2014–2017: Debut with Uniq and acting debut

Main article: Uniq (band)

Wang debuted in 2014 as a member of South Korean-Chinese boy band group Uniq with the song "Falling in Love". He served as the main dancer and rapper of the group. His acting debut was in the film MBA Partners. He then played the role of Red Boy in A Chinese Odyssey Part Three, and starred in the romance comedy drama series Love Actually as the second male lead character Zhai Zhiwei. From 2016 to 2021, Wang served as a co-host on the variety program Day Day Up.

In March 2017, Wang was cast in his first lead role in the youth xianxia drama series Private Shushan Gakuen. In April, he won the Best New Idol Award at the Top Chinese Music Awards. In August, Wang and Guan Xiaotong collaborated to sing "Once Again", the theme song of the movie with same name. In November, Wang released the theme song "Just Dance" for the 4th Xuan Wu Dance Festival. In the same year, Wang made a guest appearance in the youth campus drama series When We Were Young, and was cast in the science fiction drama series Super Talent, later named My Strange Friend.

2018–2019: Solo debut and breakthrough

In celebration of the 2018 lunar new year, Wang performed a solo dance number at the Hunan Spring Festival by Hunan Television. He also performed an adaptation of Uniq's song "Happy New Year" along with other Hunan Television hosts. In January 2019, Wang debuted as a solo singer by releasing the digital single "Fire".

In March 2018, Wang was confirmed to be a dance mentor in the reality survival show Produce 101. He gained an increased recognition for his dance skills on the show. In one of the show's episodes, Wang revealed that he had a disease called myocarditis during his childhood and had to give up dancing and undergo serious medication to recover. Eventually, he was cured and had to start learning how to dance from scratch. Wang further shared that after his recovery, he went to dance lessons for six hours every day.

In 2019, Wang starred in the esports romance drama series Gank Your Heart, playing a misunderstood professional gamer. He also sang the series' opening theme song, "Burning Adventure". With his portrayal of Ji Xiangkong, Wang took home his first major acting award for "Audience's Choice for Actor" at the 30th China TV Golden Eagle Award.

In the same year, Wang starred in the xianxia drama series The Untamed, based on the novel Mo Dao Zu Shi. Wang also released the song "Won't Forget", the theme song for his character in The Untamed. He gained an increased recognition and popularity both in China and overseas for his portrayal of Lan Wangji. Wang later entered the Forbes China's Celebrity 100 and 30 Under 30 list for the first time.

On 30 December 2019, Wang released his single "No Sense", which is his first attempt in songwriting. He wrote it intermittently as he was busy shooting the drama series Legend of Fei. Wang shared that the song was about his own feelings and experiences. He wanted his song to portray his wish for others to also overcome difficulties and keep a good mindset. Six million digital copies of the song were sold within 20 minutes after its release, exceeding 30 million yuan in total sales. The song became the fastest digital single to sell over 10 million copies on NetEase Music. Wang then performed "No Sense" for the first time at Hunan Television's 2020 New Year's Eve Concert.

2020–2022: Mainstream popularity

In May 2020, Wang was confirmed as one of the four captains in the dance competition show Street Dance of China Season 3 (这!就是街舞3). Through this show, Wang got an increased recognition for his street dance background and skills. On October, Yang Kai, a member of his team Yi Bo Wang Zha (一波王炸) won the competition.

In December 2020, Wang starred as the male lead in the wuxia drama series Legend of Fei, based on the novel Bandits (有翡) by Priest, alongside Zhao Liying who played Zhou Fei. He also sang the "First Rays" for the series, which portrays the affectionate confession from his character, Xie Yun, to Zhou Fei. The series was very popular both domestically and internationally. It not only reached a record of over 130 million views in eight hours after its release and 4 billion views in one month on Tencent Video, but also earned number one spot on WeTV Thailand and Philippines after one week of simultaneous release.

On 30 December 2020, Wang released his fourth single, "My Rules (我的世界守则)". The song, composed by 24 and Vince from The Black Label with Wang participated in the lyrics writing, expresses his determination to follow his own path and find his self-worth. With this song, Wang broke a new record of the fastest digital single to sell 10 million copies on NetEase Music, which equals to 30 million yuan, within only 2 hours and 20 minutes. The single debuted at 14th on the Billboard World Digital Song Sales during the fourth week of January 2021. Wang performed "My Rules" for the first time at the Hunan Television's 2021 New Year's Eve Concert, where he also had a collaboration stage with Wang Leehom to the song "Descendants of the Dragon".

On 11 February 2021, Wang made his first appearance on the CCTV New Year's Gala, singing and dancing in a creative show titled Ox Strut alongside Andy Lau and Guan Xiaotong to celebrate the Year of Ox, which is the zodiac of all three performers. In the same month, Wang also appeared for the first time on CCTV's Lantern Festival Gala, singing his song "Youth Comes in Time" for his individual stage. During the grand gala celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party, Wang performed the song "Walking With You" together with Karry Wang and Roy Wang, as part of the theatrical performance The Great Journey.

In June 2021, Wang played the role of Jiang Xianyun, a Chinese historical figure, in the episode The Choice (抉择) of the movie series Faith Makes Great (理想照耀中国). In the same month, Wang was chosen as one of the nine individuals appearing in Youku's serial documentary My Legacy and I Season 2, which follows the life and work of nine Chinese outstanding performers in their fields over the past two and half years.

Wang played an anti-narcotics policeman in the crime drama series Being a Hero directed by Fu Dongyu, headlining alongside Chen Xiao. He also starred as Baili Hongyi in the period mystery drama series Luoyang alongside Huang Xuan and Victoria Song.

In August 2021, Wang returned as one of the captains of the dance competition show Street Dance of China Season 4. Ye Yin, a member of Wang's team, won the competition, making Wang's team's second win in the two seasons of the show. On 30 December 2021, Wang released his fifth digital single "Standup" (廿) which topped the QQ Music New Song Chart. He performed the song for the first time at the Hunan Television's 2021/2022 New Year's Eve Concert the next day.

In 2022, Wang released his fourth annual New Year single 像阳光那样, English title: "Just Like Sunshine". He performed an interpretive dance as a debut performance of the song on the Dragon TV 2022/2023 New Year's Eve gala. The single, released on midday 30 Dec became China's biggest selling single for 2022 before the year was out.

2023–present: Film debut

Wang's first film in a leading role, Hidden Blade, a neo-noir spy thriller set mostly in Shanghai during the Japanese occupation, was released in China on 22 January 2023. It also opened in selected theaters across the US and Canada on 17 February, and in Australia on 2 March. It opened in Hong Kong on 9 March, and New Zealand on 16 March. In the movie, he led alongside veteran actor Tony Leung. The movie's domestic box office was more than ¥930 million (RMB).

In April, Born To Fly, was released. The film tells the story of a team of special elite pilots in the Chinese air force (PLAAF), who were tasked with testing out new fighter jets. The J-10C, J-16 and the J-20 made their big screen debut with the film. In July, One and Only, a comedy starring Wang as a young break-dancer who dreams and struggles to enter a professional team and compete for the Asian Game trophy, was released. It also performed well at the box office and was listed in the top 20 grossing Chinese film list compiled by industry data website The Numbers in 2023. Wang's short film All Tomorrow's Parties, directed by Zhang Dalei, was shortlisted for the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.

On 21 March 2024, the TV series War of Faith premiered on CCTV-8 and iQiyi. On 1 May, the movie Formed Police Unit in which he starred beside Huang Jingyu and Zhong Chuxi was released nationwide in China. The film tells the story of the Chinese United Nations Police were sent on an overseas mission at the request of the United Nations. On 15 May, Wang Yibo, Ambassador of the Olympic Qualifier Series Shanghai, came on stage for the finale and sang the theme song Vibrant Shanghai of the Welcome Celebration. On 14 July, he served as one of the Paris 2024 torchbearers to relay the Olympic flame in Paris, France. On 29 July, WildAid ambassador Wang Yibo's journey in search of the Chinese pangolin, the documentary series Defenders of the Hidden premiered on Youku. On 31 August 2024, the documentary series from Discovery Exploring the Unknown with Wang Yibo premiered on Tencent. In the 12 episode series (released over 6 weeks with two episodes per week) Wang Yibo partnered with six different expert guides to experience the Rainforest, Mountaineering, Caving, Diving, Rock Climbing and the Desert.

Other ventures

Endorsements and ambassadorships

Wang is one of the most in-demand and influential brand ambassadors in China. Partnering with over 30 brands, his endorsement ranges from domestic products such as Master Kong and Pechoin to international ones like Lacoste, Evisu and Shu Uemura. He is also the spokesperson of various brands including Jeanswest,Tempo and Edifier. Since 2020, Wang has been the youngest member and youngest Brand Ambassador of the Elite Club of the German luxury car brand Audi. He is also the youngest male House Ambassador of the French luxury fashion house Chanel, the first Male Global Brand Ambassador of Jimmy Choo and the Global Brand Ambassador of the Spanish luxury fashion house Loewe.

In 2020, Wang was the first entertainer in Mainland China to become an official partner of Nike. In March 2021, Wang terminated his contract with the company after Nike criticized China for human rights violations against Uyghurs in Xinjiang, in the aftermath of U.S. sanctions on cotton grown in the region that followed widespread allegations of forced labor. The following month in April 2021, Wang was appointed the Global Chief Brand Ambassador of the sportswear brand Anta, which is the official sports apparel partner of 2022 Winter Olympics and 2022 Winter Paralympics.

Through his pursuit of extreme sports, particularly skateboarding and motorcycle racing, as well as his widespread influence in the younger generation, Wang was appointed by the Chinese government as the Chinese Skateboarding Promotion Ambassador, and the ambassador for Chinese winter sports and the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics. He also has served as the China's Top Dancer Promotion Ambassador, awarded by the Chinese Dancers Association since 2021, for his acknowledged dancing skills and experiences. In 2024, to further highlight the Series’ mix of sports and culture, the Local Organising Committee of the Shanghai event has appointed Wang as its promotional ambassador for the 2024 Olympic Qualifier Series.

Wang has appeared on the front covers of the Chinese edition of various international magazines, such as Elle, GQ, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan and Harper's Bazaar. In March 2020, Wang became the first Chinese celebrity to grace all three covers of SuperELLE China by himself. In November, Wang starred in a fashion film project between Vogue Film and Chanel alongside Zhou Xun titled Le Vrai Ou (花的游吟).

Philanthropy

Wang has used his image to raise awareness for multiple causes, such as Firefighting Public Welfare of Luoyang City, SOS Children's Villages' campaign with Qingsongchou "No Child Alone: I want to have a family", the Civil Traffic of Hunan Province, and "Earth Aid, Green Life on the Table", a campaign co-sponsored by WildAid, China Green Carbon Foundation, and Food and Agriculture Organization. On 8 December 2019, Wang was honored as the Kuwo Music's 2019 Role Model Reading Charity Artist. He was one of the celebrity readers of "Model Reading", the first youth reading and sharing program jointly created by Kuwo Music and China Youth Daily. It aims to evoke interest and enthusiasm of the youth to start reading literary works.

Wang has been active to show his support in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. In January 2020, Wang and more than 200 celebrities donated a total of 278 million yuan to Han Hong Charity Foundation in order to help the city of Wuhan, an area vastly affected. He made another donation to Wuhan together with the other hosts of Day Day Up. They collectively donated 1 million yuan worth of masks, protective clothing, and other necessary supplies. Wang also sang a number of original songs as a tribute to front liners of the COVID-19 pandemic and to convey love and hope during those challenging times. Under the guidance of the Communist Youth League of China, Wang and other actors collaborated to sing "With You By My Side" (有你在身边), a song that is part of the music album Love Is Not Separated, created by China Youth Daily, China Youth Online, and Ku Wo Music. In March 2020, Wang and Xinhua News Agency launched the tribute song "We Stay Together" (因为我们在一起) to inspire people to work together against the pandemic.

Personal life

Since 2019, Wang has been a member of the Yamaha China Racing Team as a professional road motorcycle racer. In August 2019, Wang participated in the Asia Road Racing Championship (ARRC) in Zhuhai International Circuit and won the second place in the mixed competition and the first place in the rookie division.

In the same month of the year, Wang received numerous unsolicited phone calls from callers who purchased his personal telephone number online. Wang answered some of these calls and personally appealed to the callers to respect his privacy and stop calling. He took to his Weibo account to urge fans to support and love him rationally, to stop calling him and not to waste their money to purchase his number as the calls have adversely affected his privacy. He informed that he would change his number even though it was troublesome for him to update his loved ones and transaction arrangements linked to his phone number. He posted screenshots of receiving 194 calls from unknown numbers. Wang's management agency, Yuehua Entertainment threatened to take action informing that it has kept a record of these numbers and that it may turn them over to the authorities if necessary.

On 19-20 Oct 2024, In the GT3 category of the 2024 GTSC series held in Zhuhai International Circuit, Wang Yibo participated in his first official race as an artist, partnered with professional driver Fang Junyu to represent the UNO Racing team. Driving the No. 85 Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo II, which incorporates the elements of bamboo leaf green snakeskin, they won second place in the first round and won the championship in the second round.

Discography

Main article: Wang Yibo discography

For Wang's works with Uniq, see Uniq (band) § Discography.

Extended plays

• Bystander (2023)

Filmography

Film

Wang Yibo's film credits

Year	Title		Role	Notes	Ref.
	English	Original
2016	MBA Partners	梦想合伙人	Zhao Shuyu
	A Chinese Odyssey Part Three	大话西游3	Red Boy
2018	Crystal Sky of Yesterday	昨日青空	Qi Jingxuan	Voice role
2023	Hidden Blade	无名	Mr. Ye
	Born to Fly	长空之王	Lei Yu
	My Youth and I	中国青年: 我和我的青春	Lu Yang
	One and Only	热烈	Chen Shuo
2024	Formed Police Unit	维和防暴队	Yang Zhen
TBA	Unexpected Love	闭嘴!爱吧	Chang Lin

Key

†	Denotes films that have not yet been released

Short Film

Wang Yibo's film credits

Year	Title		Role	Notes	Ref.
	English	Original
2018	Live For Real	热舞吧！青春	Lin Jin	Short film
2019	Fantasy Westward Journey	梦幻西游三维版		Short film
2020	Le Vrai Ou	花的游吟		Short film
2021	China Starts Again	中国再出发	Narrator	Short film
	My Legacy and I 2	我的时代和我2	Himself	Documentary
2022	All Tomorrow's Parties	我的朋友	Li Mo	Shortlisted for the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival
2024	Defenders of the Hidden	尋護者	Narrator	Documentary	，

Television series

Wang Yibo's television series credits

Year	Title		Role	Notes	Ref.
	English	Original
2017	Love Actually	人间至味是清欢	Zhai Zhiwei
	When We Were Young	青春最好时	Lin Jiayi	Guest appearance
2019	Gank Your Heart	陪你到世界之巅	Ji Xiangkong
	The Untamed	陈情令	Lan Wangji
2020	My Strange Friend	我的奇怪朋友	Wei Yichen
	Legend of Fei	有翡	Xie Yun
2021	Faith Makes Great	理想照耀中国	Jiang Xianyun	Episode "The Choice" (Chinese: 抉择)
	Luoyang	风起洛阳	Baili Hongyi
2022	Being a Hero	冰雨火	Chen Yu
2024	Man of Faith	追风者	Wei Ruolai
TBA	Private Shushan Cultivation School	私立蜀山学园	Teng Jing

Key

†	Denotes series that have not yet been released

Television show

Wang Yibo's television shows credits

Year	Title		Role	Ref.
	English	Original
2016–2021	Day Day Up	天天向上	Host
2018	Produce 101 China	创造101	Dance Mentor
2019	One More Try	极限青春	Team Leader
2020	Street Dance of China 3	这就是街舞3	Captain
2021	Bravo Youngsters	上线吧华彩少年	Mentor
	Street Dance of China 4	这就是街舞4	Captain
2022	Street Dance of China 5	这就是街舞5	Captain
2024	Exploring the Unknown with Wang Yibo	探索新境	Program Creator

Awards and nominations

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, nominee(s) of the award, award category, and the result of the nomination

Year	Award ceremony	Category	Nominee/work(s)	Result	Ref.
2017	Top Chinese Music Awards	Best New Idol	Wang Yibo	Won
	Asian Influence Awards Ceremony	Best New Actor		Won
	Weibo TV Online Video Awards Ceremony	New Artist of the Year		Won
	ifeng Fashion Choice	Most Popular New Actor		Won
	Sina Best Taste	New Artist of the Year		Won
2018	QQ Interest Blog Appreciation Night	Male Artist of the Year		Won
2019	Golden Tower Award	Most Popular Actor	The Untamed, Gank Your Heart	Nominated
	Golden Bud - The Fourth Network Film And Television Festival	Best Actor		Nominated
	Weibo TV Series Awards	Most Popular Actor		Nominated
	6th Hengdian Film and TV Festival of China	Tourism Ambassador	Wang Yibo	Won
	Tencent Music Entertainment Awards	Song of the Year	"Unrestrained" (with Xiao Zhan)	Won
		Model Reading Public Welfare Artist	Wang Yibo	Won
	GQ 2019 Men of the Year	Breakthrough Actor of the Year	The Untamed	Won
	26th Huading Awards	Best Newcomer		Nominated
		Top Ten Favorite Actors		Won
	2nd Cultural and Entertainment Industry Congress	Breakthrough Actor (Drama)		Nominated
		Best Couple (with Xiao Zhan)		Nominated
	Sina The Most Beautiful Performance	Outstanding Actor of the Year		Nominated
	China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival (1st Network Drama Awards)	Most Popular Actor		Won
	Baidu Fudian Awards	Hot Star Award	Wang Yibo	Won
	Sina Film & TV Awards	Most Popular Variety Male Artist		Won
	Sports Star Power Awards	Best Cross-over Influence		Won
	Tencent Video All Star Awards	Idol of the Year		Won
		VIP Star		Won
		Popular TV Actor of the Year	The Untamed	Won
	Netease Cloud Music	Idol of the Year	Wang Yibo	Won
	Jinri Toutiao Awards Ceremony	Male Celebrity of the Year		Nominated
2020	Weibo Awards Ceremony	Hot Figure of the Year		Won
		Weibo God		Won
	27th ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards	Top Ten Songs	"Unrestrained" (with Xiao Zhan)	Won
	30th China TV Golden Eagle Award	Best Original Soundtrack	"Burning Adventure"	Nominated
		Audience's Choice for Actor	Gank Your Heart	Won
	Sohu Annual Fashion Festival Award 2020	Charming Man of the Year	Wang Yibo	Won
	iQiyi All-Star Carnival	Scream King		Won
	Tencent Video All Star Awards 2020	VIP Star		Won
		All Rounder Artist of the Year		Won
	Tencent Entertainment White Paper	Variety Star of The Year		Won
	QQ Annual Popular Movie OST Award	Most Powerful OST in Music & Film	"First Rays"	Won
2021	Douyin Star Night 2021	Douyin God	Wang Yibo	Won
		All-Around Artist of the Year		Won
	Hunan TV Award	Best Staff		Won
		Artist of the Year		Won
	Weibo Awards Ceremony	Hot Figure of the Year		Won
	NetEase Indie Music Award	Best Selling Digital Single of 2019-2020	"My Rules"	Won
	Weibo Starlight Awards 2021	Most Popular Artist among Overseas Fans	Wang Yibo	Won
	Weibo TV Series Awards	Most Popular Actor	Legend Of Fei	Won
2022	Weibo Night Awards	Breakthrough Filmmaker of the Year Award	Wang Yibo	Won
2023	2023 Weibo Movie Night	Actor of The Year	Wang Yibo	Won
	The 20th China Movie Channel Media Awards	Best New Actor	Hidden Blade, Born to Fly	Nominated
		Best Actor		Won
	18th Changchun Film Festival - Golden Deer Awards	Best Actor	One and Only	Nominated
	36th Golden Rooster Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Hidden Blade	Nominated
	11th Zhejiang Film Phoenix Award	Best Actor	One and Only	Won
	2023 Iqiyi Scream Night	Actor of The Year - Film	Wang Yibo	Won
	15th Macau International Movie Festival - Golden Lotus Award	Best Newcomer	Hidden Blade	Nominated
	2023 Tencent Video All Star Awards	Popular Movie Actor of The Year	Wang Yibo	Won
2024	2023 Weibo Night	Popular Filmmaker of The Year	Wang Yibo	Won
	17th Asian Film Awards	Best Newcomer	Hidden Blade	Nominated
	2024 Weibo Movie Night	Breakthrough Filmmaker of the Year	Wang Yibo	Won
	37th Golden Rooster Awards	Best Actor	One and Only	Nominated
	16th Macau International Movie Festival - Golden Lotus Award	Best Actor	One and Only	Nominated
	15th Macau International Television Festival - Golden Lotus Award	Best Actor	War of Faith	Nominated

Listicles

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Year	Publisher	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
2019	Forbes China	Celebrity 100	71st
		30 Under 30	Placed
	Thailand Headlines	Person of the Year	Placed
2020	Forbes China	Celebrity 100	9th
	Forbes Asia	100 Digital Stars	Placed
2021	Forbes China	Celebrity 100	2nd

External links

• Wang Yibo on Weibo (in Chinese)
• Wang Yibo on Instagram
• YIBO-OFFICIAL on Weibo (in Chinese)
• YIBO-OFFICIAL on Instagram
• Wang Yibo on 51gt3 Racing Drivers Database