China has issued new guidelines on TV and online drama credits, defining for the first time the requirements for the order of actors’ names. The move comes in response to rising conflicts among fans over rankings associated with credit order.

The guidelines were jointly issued on June 12 by three leading industry regulators, including the China Television Drama Production Industry Association and the country’s top actors’ association. They will take effect July 10.

The concept of actor ranking, or fanwei in Chinese, comes from the Japanese word ban, which refers to position — in this case, in cast credits. Originally reflecting role prominence, credit order has gradually gained symbolic weight in China, with earlier credit appearances becoming a marker of prestige, enhancing actors’ market value, and even determining investment and profit-sharing opportunities. Fans and actors alike place great emphasis on whether actors are yifan, leads, or erfan, supporting.

Under the guideline, on-screen titles will be limited to three categories: “lead”; “special appearance,” defined as prestigious actors in supporting roles; and “appearance,” referring to any actor in the production. Labels that have often been used to signal status differences among actors, such as “co-star” or “guest lead,” are now banned.

Actors’ names will now be listed by category and based on the number of strokes that make up their legal surnames, from fewest to most. Where stroke counts are identical, order will be determined by stroke count in the subsequent characters of their given names. Credits must also explicitly state that actors’ names are listed in accordance with surname stroke order. In addition, performers with stage names are required to be listed in the format “legal name (stage name)” in credits. 

In an effort to address fan conflicts arising from actor placement — a growing phenomenon in recent years — all promotional materials, including posters, trailers, and official social media posts, must comply with the guidelines.

In 2025, the announcement that Chen Duling and Zhou Yiran would be “co-stars” of the Chinese drama “Ashes to Crown” triggered immediate disputes between the actors’ respective fanbases, with calls to boycott the series trending on microblogging platform Weibo. 

Chen’s fans expressed frustration that her equal footing with a younger male actor undermined the actress’s rising status. Meanwhile, Zhou’s fans argued he should not take a role in a female-led production, as this would make him appear to be a supporting actor, rather than the sole lead.

Such conflicts have often escalated into online harassment. Actor ranking has also led to legal disputes between actors and talent agencies, sometimes resulting in contract renegotiations or postponed shoots.

In response, productions have made compromises in marketing materials, including adopting alternating credit sequences and rotating name designs on advertisements.

Public reaction to the new guidelines has been mixed, with images circulating online showing fans calculating the stroke counts of performers’ surnames. Many users voiced support for the policy, while others proposed alternatives, including ordering alphabetically, by total screen time, or listing names in order of appearance.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: Visuals from VCG, reedited by Sixth Tone)