With ‘exotic’ looks, Uygurs find opportunities in the entertainment business

Uygur faces are finding their way to movie screens, phones, and billboards across China. Members of the ethnic minority group have facial features that Chinese brands have deemed “attractive,” creating opportunities for talented Uygurs to break into the entertainment business as singers, models and TV stars.

One of the most famous Uyghur stars may be Dilraba Dilmurat, an actress who starred in the popular series “Swords of Legends”, and who played the lead role in the drama “The King’s Woman.” Fellow Uyghur actress Gulnezer Bextiyar was recently named a Fendi brand ambassador – the first Chinese ambassador for the luxury brand.

Dilraba Dilmurat

Gulnezer Bextiyar

Like other Uygurs, both Dilraba and Gulnezer hail from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Located at the northwest edge of China, the region is home to the largest population of Uygurs. The ethnic group has Turkic roots and speak a language that’s more similar to Turkish than Mandarin. Their script is derived from Arabic and their physical appearances resemble central Asians more than the Han ethnic majority that make up China.

Dilraba Dilmurat

Gulnezer Bextiyar

Demand for men and women who share the same Eurasian characteristics as Gulnezer have been on the rise lately according to Dengyang Liu, founder of Fun Models, an online platform that connects models, actors and photographers to Chinese clients. Though he cautions that Han Chinese still far outnumber the number of Uygur models, many of his Chinese clients are “looking for a face that have some Asian characteristics, but also have some kind of white Europeanness to it.” 

Uyghur model Parwena Dulkun has found success with brands in China

Parwena Dulkun

What’s driving this demand? For Dengyang, it’s nothing new. He likens it to patterns he’s seen in other Asian countries, especially as cities become increasingly cosmopolitan. “Hong Kong, Taiwan, S. Korea, even Thailand…basically, faces with mixed Eurasian features were used as a symbol[s] of a changing fusion trend in aesthetic standards,” says Dengyang. 

Gulnezer Bextiyar

Gulnezer Bextiyar

The power of the purse

In many ways, the shift in beauty standards correlates to a rise in purchasing power. Increased disposable income is a calling card for international brands looking to take advantage of the new market. The brands bring their own standards for beauty, revealing the Western bias in defining beauty, even in local cultures.

China’s first-tier cities have grown at breakneck speed in the past few decades, creating a new generation of Chinese with disposable income and increasing exposure to international standards of beauty. Consulting firm McKinsey has dubbed this new middle class “Generation 2." Born during China’s period of economic reform and opening up to the world, this generation accounted for nearly 15 percent of urban consumption in 2012. This number is expected to rise to 35 percent in 2022. 

According to survey data from McKinsey, the "Generation 2" group of Chinese consumers are the most Westernized to date / source: McKinsey

A 2012 McKinsey survey of this group found that “this generation of Chinese consumers is the most Westernized to date.” In terms of consumption habits, Generation 2 respondents were more likely to be loyal to brands, view expensive items as “better”, and get satisfaction out items that signify better taste or higher status.

As this generation’s spending habits mirror those found in the West, foreign faces have also become more common in Chinese media. Chinese audiences are accustomed to seeing “more international-themed faces or stories… even the 'zhibo' video stuff that’s been popular in China in the past two years,” says Dengyang.

Dilraba Dilmurat

Dilraba Dilmurat

We don’t have to look far to see other examples of the same experience. In the past four decades, S. Korea has seen explosive growth, joining the trillion-dollar club of world economies in 2004.

The 1990s spawned K-pop, one of the most influential factors in shaping the country’s beauty standards. As Patricia Marx from the New Yorker puts it, the K-pop phenomenon “shapes not only what music you should listen to, but what you should look like while listening to it.”

Many of the K-pop stars share similar characteristics: fair skin, double eyelids and a small face. Koreans go to great lengths to replicate these looks, as the country has one of the highest rates of plastic surgery in the world. Though some argue that these procedures produce beauty results that are universally appealing, these are also the same beauty standards that dominant Western culture.

Dilraba Dilmurat

Dilraba Dilmurat

Dilraba Dilmurat

Dilraba Dilmurat

Gulnezer Bextiyar

Gulnezer Bextiyar

Gulnezer Bextiyar

Parwena Dulkun

Parwena Dulkun

Parwena Dulkun

Parwena Dulkun

Parwena Dulkun

General Motors posted strong financial results for its first quarter Tuesday, but says it will reassess its expectations for 2025 due to auto tariffs.

The automaker is pushing back its conference call to discuss its guidance and quarterly results until Thursday, so that it can assess potential tariff changes.

GM said that its initial full-year financial forecast doesn't contemplate the potential impact of tariffs. In January the company announced that it anticipated 2025 adjusted earnings in a range of $11 to $12 per share.

Late Monday The Wall Street Journal reported that President Donald Trump will possibly dial back automotive tariffs, with anonymous sources claiming that he’ll stop duties on foreign-made cars from piling on top of other tariffs he implemented and easing some levies on foreign parts used to make cars in the U.S.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday morning that Trump would sign an executive order relaxing some of his tariffs on cars and auto parts, though Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the goal remained enabling automakers to create more domestic manufacturing jobs.

Bessent added that Trump is concerned with “jobs of the future, not of the past.”

It remains unclear what impact Trump’s broader tariffs will have on the U.S. economy and auto sales. Most economists say the tariffs — which could ultimately hit most imports — would raise prices and slow economic growth, possibly hurting auto sales despite the relief that the administration intends to offer on its previous policies.

Trump will be holding a rally in Michigan, the heart of the nation's auto industry, on Tuesday. Michigan has been jolted by his steep trade tariffs and combative attitude toward Canada.

Trump is making an afternoon visit to Selfridge Air National Guard Base for an announcement alongside Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. He’s expected to speak at a rally at Macomb Community College, north of Detroit.

Michigan was one of the battleground states Trump flipped from the Democratic column in his election. But it’s also been deeply affected by tariffs on imported cars and auto parts.

Michigan’s unemployment rate has risen for three straight months, including jumping 1.3% from March to reach 5.5%, according to state data. That’s among the highest in the nation, far exceeding the national average of 4.2%.

Industry groups have urged the White House to scrap plans for tariffs on imported auto parts, warning that doing so would raise prices on cars and could trigger “layoffs and bankruptcy.”

General Motors earned $2.78 billion, or $3.35 per share, for the three months ended March 31. A year earlier it earned $2.98 billion, or $2.56 per share.

Removing one-time charges and benefits, GM earned $2.78 per share, topping the $2.68 per share that Wall Street had expected, according to a survey by FactSet.

Revenue climbed to $44.02 billion from $43.01 billion.

GM’s stock declined about 2% in morning trading.

FILE - A General Motors logo is seen on a building, April 24, 2024, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)