PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — A young Chinese internet influencer who disappeared after travelling to Cambodia for what she believed was a high-paying job has been found injured and homeless in the coastal city of Sihanoukville, Chinese authorities said.
Images of the woman, showing her begging on the streets with a visibly injured leg and holding medical scan films outside hotels, spread widely on Chinese and international social media in recent days, sparking concern and online debate.
The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia said in an official statement on Jan. 4, 2026, that it had located the woman. She was identified by her surname Wu, aged about 20, though some reports said she is 26. She is from Fujian province and had worked as a content creator on a short-video platform, where she had more than 24,000 followers.
Her last social media post, dated Dec. 6, 2025, said she was in Cambodia.
According to the embassy, Wu left school after completing middle school and told her family she was working in Jiangsu province. In fact, she travelled to Cambodia in April 2025. Her family later transferred her more than 80,000 yuan (about 400,000 baht) to support her.
On Dec. 26, 2025, Wu contacted her father asking for 2,200 yuan (about 10,000 baht) for medical treatment for her leg. She then lost contact with her family.
Relatives later recognised her in images circulating online and alerted Chinese police, who coordinated with the Chinese Embassy in Cambodia to search for her.
Embassy officials in Sihanoukville found Wu on Jan. 3, 2026, at a local hospital in poor physical condition. She was later transferred to a better-equipped medical facility. Wu told officials she had been lured to Cambodia with promises of a high salary but was eventually abandoned and left to live on the streets.
Her condition has since improved, and the embassy has contacted her family to arrange her return to China.
Her father previously told Chinese media through tears that he only wanted his daughter to return home safely.
The case has drawn renewed attention to employment scams targeting Chinese nationals in Cambodia, particularly in Sihanoukville, which has become notorious for illegal online gambling operations, call-centre fraud and human trafficking. Victims are often stripped of their passports, abused or abandoned if they fail to meet criminal targets, rights groups and authorities say.
