Chinese actor and singer Zhang Yiyang was reportedly executed last year for murdering a teenager in 2022.
He is the first known entertainer in mainland China to be executed for such a crime, Channel News Asia reported.
According to records from the Intermediate People’s Court of Xianyang City in Shaanxi province, Zhang, then 30, lured the 16-year-old girl into a remote forest near Xingping City under the pretence of a birthday celebration on 26 February 2022.
They had a dispute and Zhang attacked her with a folding knife, killing her.
Zhang allegedly attempted to conceal his crime by disposing of his clothes and the victim’s phone in a reservoir and then checked into a hotel intending to take his own life. Hotel staff intervened and alerted authorities, who arrested him soon afterwards.
Zhang had started dating the victim in September 2021, according to The Standard, and reportedly coerced her to stay in the relationship when she wanted to break up.
A local court handed down the death sentence to Zhang which he appealed. The sentence was upheld, however, and the actor was executed about six months later on 18 December 2024, Channel News Asia reported, citing court statements.
After local media began reporting on Zhang’s case, commentators on social media platforms such as Weibo and Douban expressed both anger and shock at the brutality of the crime and the lack of a formal industry response.
In particular, commentators were upset with the entertainment industry for the continued availability of Zhang’s works, including The Sound of Music, a film also known as Jieyou Sound Hall which premiered in March 2025.
Zhang, unlike other celebrities implicated in misconduct, has not been added to China’s official “bad artist” blacklist nor have his works been removed from streaming platforms.
Zhang, born 1 May 1990 in Xingping, started his career by appearing on a reality TV show in 2012 and went on to release songs such as “I Only Care About People Who Care About Me” and “Crying Man” and hold minor acting roles in webseries and low‑profile TV shows.
