The Chaoyang masses (), also referred to as the Chaoyang public, are a group of public

informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or (usually damaging) information inten ...

s who cooperate with

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

law enforcement to report on illegal or dangerous activity in the city. Named after the Beijing district,

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

's capital city where they originated, the term first appeared in official reports in the 2010s, and become popular after

police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...

credited public informers with tips that led to the arrest of

Charles Xue Charles Bi-chuen Xue () is a Chinese-American entrepreneur and angel investor, better known by his screen name Xue Manzi. He was one of the founders of UTStarcom, the Chairman of 8848 Electronic Commerce Network, the Chairman of Prcedu. Biograph ...

in 2013 for soliciting a sex worker. In early 2015, local interest in the group grew as it was continuously credited by police. In March 2015, police credited the group on its official

Weibo Weibo (), or Sina Weibo (), is a Chinese microblogging ( weibo) website. Launched by Sina Corporation on 14 August 2009, it is one of the biggest social media platforms in China, with over 582 million monthly active users (252 million daily ac ...

account for essential information that led to a drug bust. In 2016, the

Ministry of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

and

China Central Television China Central Television (CCTV) is the State media, national television broadcaster of China, established in 1958. CCTV is operated by the National Radio and Television Administration which reports directly to the Publicity Department of th ...

selected the Chaoyang masses as the "Most Influential Actor for Rule of Law". By 2017, the group had established themselves as the best-known among several that ran the city's neighbourhoods, with Beijing police releasing a mobile phone app named after it for citizens to provide tip-offs. During an inspection of Beijing in 2017,

CCP general secretary The general secretary of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party ( zh, s=中国共产党中央委员会总书记, p=Zhōngguó Gòngchǎndǎng Zhōngyāng Wěiyuánhuì Zǒngshūjì) is the leader of the Chinese Communist Party ...

Xi Jinping Xi Jinping, pronounced (born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has been the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and Chairman of the Central Military Commission (China), chairman of the Central Military Commission ...

spoke fondly of the group along with a similar group called ''

Xicheng Xicheng () is a district of the city of Beijing. Its cover the western half of the old city (largely inside the 2nd Ring Road; the eastern half is Dongcheng District), and has 1,106,214 inhabitants (2020 Census). Its postal code is 100032. Xi ...

Aunties'', saying in reference to their common gear when not in stealth mode, "Where there are more red armbands, there will be greater security and greater peace of mind." By February 2018, the group had reportedly grown to 140,000 members, predominantly retirees. According to a report from early 2021, they earned between 300 and (between 35 and ) per month. After the arrest of concert pianist

Li Yundi Yundi Li ( zh, s=李云迪, t=李雲迪, p=Lǐ Yúndí; born 7 October 1982), also known simply as Yundi (stylized as YUNDI), is a Chinese classical concert pianist. Yundi is considered one of the greatest contemporary interpreters of Chopin and ...

in October 2021 for allegedly soliciting a sex worker, for which police gave credit to the Chaoyang masses, there was renewed interest in the group within China; the hashtag: #Who exactly are Chaoyang masses? was viewed at least 310 million times on Weibo, and Chinese

netizen The term ''netizen'' is a portmanteau of the English words ''internet'' and ''citizen'', as in a "citizen of the net" or "net citizen". It describes a person actively involved in online communities or the Internet in general.

s expressed astonishment about its apparent effectiveness. A song called "The Chaoyang Masses" became a trending top on the internet. In China, the group is jokingly referred to as "one of the top 5 intelligence agencies in the world", following the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA; ) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States tasked with advancing national security through collecting and analyzing intelligence from around the world and ...

Mossad The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (), popularly known as Mossad ( , ), is the national intelligence agency of the Israel, State of Israel. It is one of the main entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with M ...

, FSB and

MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

References

{{reflist Society of the People's Republic of China Chaoyang District, Beijing