(Yicai Global) Jan. 16 -- Shares in film and television firm New Culture Media Group have hit the 10 percent limit up this morning after unveiling plans to explore the online influencer agency business with the firm behind the success of Taobao live-streaming star Li Jiaqi.

The Shanghai-based company's stock [SHE:300336] opened at CNY5.79 (84 US cents) and has remained there since.

The firm has teamed up with Li's agency Meiwan Shanghai Network Technology and the pair plan to leverage New Culture's large outdoor screens with Meiwan's portfolio of celebrities, including Li, and its online media channels, New Culture said in a statement yesterday.

Meiwan has a large digital service platform for web influencers, artists and models and helps them set up performances and shoots and distribute goods. Li, a cosmetics genius known as the Lipstick Brother, is their best-known representative. He shifted over 100,000 sausages made by China's Jinzi Ham in just five minutes in a live broadcast on Jan. 5, with the stream racking up 31 million views and CNY3 million (USD432,000) in sales. Jinzi's share price hit the 10 percent ceiling the next day.

The tie-up appears to spell good news for 2004-founded New Culture, a specialist in production, distribution and advertising whose share price has been on a downward spiral since the beginning of 2016 as poor performance weighed on investor interest. Its share price reached an all-time low of CNY3.65 in September 2019, but has shown signs of a comeback since the start of this year.

Editor: James Boynton