30-yuan goods relabelled as A$‑made and sold for 400 yuan — Yousiyi (优思益) faked an entire supply chain. Who pays for “top live‑streaming room” blind spots?

A high‑margin branding stunt exposed

A CCTV investigation has punctured a multi‑year “Australian” success story: Yousiyi (优思益), a best‑selling wellness brand on Tmall (天猫) and Douyin (抖音) that long billed itself as “Australia’s No.1,” is reportedly manufactured in Anhui, China, not in Melbourne. The address printed on packaging — a Melbourne unit on Tinguely Lake Road — was visited and found to be an auto repair shop. So who bought the story? Primarily domestic consumers persuaded by heavy marketing and the trust capital of celebrity livestreamers such as Dong Yuhui (董宇辉). How does a 30‑yuan domestic product get sold as a 400‑yuan imported cure? Through staged provenance, paid awards and rented academic credibility.

The marketing machinery behind the illusion

Investigators say Yousiyi’s core products, including its blueberry lutein capsules and iron supplements, are produced by Xianle Health Technology (Anhui) Co., Ltd. (仙乐健康科技（安徽）有限公司), a major domestic CDMO whose factories meet national standards but do not make the product Australian. It has been reported that Guangzhou Yalayuan Health Industry Co., Ltd. (广州雅拉源健康产业有限公司) is the China operator behind the brand, while Hangzhou Suoxiang Marketing Planning Co., Ltd. (杭州索象营销策划有限公司) orchestrated the overseas branding. Reportedly, the marketing playbook included paid entries for international “quality” awards (said to cost RMB 20,000–30,000 per prize) and fees for Australian academics to provide video endorsements — steps described by insiders as a standardized way to create a faux‑foreign halo.

Profit math, regulation and the trust deficit

The financial anatomy is stark. Third‑party monitoring reportedly attributes RMB 10–25 million of sales and roughly 100,000 orders to a single high‑profile livestream, meaning tens of thousands bought an Anhui‑made product on the basis of an Australian story and a trusted host. Xianle’s margins suggest low procurement costs, while it has been reported that more than half of retail revenue was consumed by “backing, seeding and traffic” — in short, marketing and credibility rental rather than R&D or raw materials. Legally the products lacked China’s health‑food approval (the so‑called “blue hat”), and the brand appears to have exploited cross‑border e‑commerce rules and bonded‑warehouse logistics to avoid stricter domestic oversight. The result: consumers pay the premium; platforms and influencers pay a reputational price.

What this means for platforms and policy

Regulators have opened probes — Guangzhou Haizhu market authorities have reportedly launched inspections and sampling — and the case highlights larger problems. Cross‑border e‑commerce policy creates ambiguity over applicable standards; brands exploit that gap, foreign‑label trust and algorithmic amplification to capture margin. For Western universities and experts used in paid endorsements, reputational risk is real. For platforms and livestreamers, the lesson is blunt: trust is a fragile asset and cannot be rented away by commissions and shortcuts. In an era of abundant claims, will stricter provenance checks and platform accountability follow? Consumers are already paying the bill.