Li had recently been detained and charged by Beijing police after he had confessed his guilt
Li becomes the latest in a line of artists to find themselves in legal trouble recently, as government cracks down on China's entertainment industry, stepping up efforts to rein in what it calls "chaotic fan culture" and celebrity excess, AFP said.
Here are 5 facts about Li Yifeng:
- Li Yifeng, who played revolutionary leader Mao Zedong in a 2021 biopic to mark the centenary of the Chinese Communist Party, is hugely popular, with more than 60 million followers on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo.
- Li Yifeng, also known as Evan Li is also a singer came in limelight after participating in the 2007 My Hero contest. He made debut as a singer with album Four Leaf Clover. In 2009, Mr Li made his acting debut with the drama The Prince of Tennis 2, adapted from the Japanese anime The Prince of Tennis.
- Global and local brands including luxury fashion house Prada, watchmaker Panerai and French cognac maker Remy Martin issued statements on Sunday saying they had dropped Li as their brand ambassador following the scandal.
- Born on May 4, 1987, Mr Li last year appeared in a public service announcement video to promote national security.
- News of Li Yifeng's arrest comes amid a climate of anger about the ill-treatment of women in China, including the unprovoked attack on a group of women in a restaurant earlier this year, reported BBC.
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