Annabel Yao (姚安娜), the youngest daughter of Ren Zhengfei (任正非), the founder of Chinese tech company, Huawei, officially announced her debut in the Chinese entertainment industry on January 14. She signed her management contract with TH Entertainment, accompanied by a lawyer in October 2020. Annabel Yao made her debut in C-Pop with her first single, “Back Fire”, on January 18.
Annabel Yao, nicknamed “Huawei’s Little Princess”, was born in 1998. She graduated from Harvard University last May with a degree in Computer Science. She came into contact with ballet since she was three and started officially studying it when she was five years old.
In her first interview with Sina Entertainment, Annabel Yao was candid in talking about the extra attention she received because of her identity. She said, “My identity has allowed me to gain much more attention compared to other rookie artists who just debuted. But at the same time, the disadvantage is this attention. Everyone will have very strict standards and demands for me. So I must do even better than other people, work even harder, so that I can then reach the standards everyone has of me in their minds.”
Unlike the current trend of debuting through a survival show, Annabel Yao just directly debuted. There were speculations Annabel Yao would have joined this year’s survival shows to debut. Annabel Yao admitted she once considered it, but doesn’t rule out joining in the future either.
Some have said Annabel Yao was already the center when she was born, while others have said, “Why can’t you just go be good princess?”. Annabel Yao said about this, “First off, I think I am extremely lucky to be born into this happy family. I am also very thankful to my parents for all their guidance. Secondly, I think every person has a different definition of a princess. I don’t think I am a so-called princess. I also need to work hard to chase after my dreams and goals.”
As for the future, Annabel Yao hopes to become an artist who can bring positive energy to people with her works. While she debuted as a singer, she doesn’t rule out acting or other paths. She said, “I think the most important thing is that no matter which path I choose to develop, I will definitely treat it seriously. I hope to bring high quality works to everyone.”
must be nice to be born rich