Xiaomi (1810) has recently been embroiled in another public relations crisis, involving disciplinary action on vice president and chief marketing officer Xu Fei and group public relations department general manager Xu Jieyun.
It was revealed that Xiaomi's PR team was planning an annual framework collaboration with an influencer who has long held differing opinions from the brand.
As a result, it sparked a strong backlash from Xiaomi’s core users and fans,who flooded the comment sections of Xiaomi executives such as Lei Jun and Xu Jieyun with messages of protest, calling the move a "betrayal to Mi Fans."
"I support Xiaomi collaborating with other bloggers on sponsored content, but we can't let them place ads with influencers who smear Xiaomi every day," a netizen commented.
Xiaomi immediately launched a special investigation regarding the incident, the company stated on its official Weibo late Tuesday.
Xu Jieyun decided that evening that the contact had been immediately terminated and promised no future cooperation.
A spokesperson for the company later stated that the incident seriously violated company principles and severely hurt the feelings of fans, constituting a serious violation.
According to company policy, the responsible personnel involved have been dismissed. In addition, Xu Fei and Xu Jieyun have been held accountable for dereliction of duty, given a public reprimand, deducted from their 2025 performance bonuses, and have their 2025 bonuses cancelled.
The influencer involved described the incident as “a regrettable ending.”
