Chinese actors now required to use real names, so who are Ding Zhoujie, Sun Fanqing, Zhang Jiawei?

The names Ding Zhoujie and Sun Fanqing may sound unfamiliar to you, but if you're a C-drama fan, you would likely know these celebrities.

Chinese actors are now required to use their real names as part of a new rule recently announced by three media associations in the country.

They will now be listed with their real names followed by their monikers in brackets. This format will be used in drama and film credits as well as all publicity materials.

The terms used to refer to the extent of an actor's participation have also been restricted to two tiers: 'starring role' or 'special appearance' which will be used in the opening credits, while 'cast members' will be used in the end credits.

Rules for billing order — which refers to the sequence in which actors in a drama or film are listed — have also been revised.

Actors within the same tier will be listed according to the stroke count of the first Chinese character of their surname in ascending order. If the counts are the same, the strokes for the next character will be considered.

These new regulations will be implemented from July 10 onwards, with actors from Hong Kong reportedly being exempt.

Critics believe the change was made to combat billing controversies as agencies and fan communities would often argue over the billing order for their actors.

Chinese multimedia company and broadcaster Tencent Video held a press conference to promote their upcoming dramas yesterday (June 24), and all materials shown, including the trailers, listed the cast members' real names.

Li Yitong, 35, took a cheeky approach while introducing her upcoming drama Chang Feng Qi on stage: "Hi, I'm newbie actress Li Xue, bracket experienced actress Li Yitong."

Meanwhile, 28-year-old Lareina Song Zu'er introduced herself by her legal name Sun Fanqing.

To ease confusion, here's a list of actors and their legal names.

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