Pop star Kris Wu stands trial

Kris Wu, one of China's most popular singers and actors for a time, stood trial on Friday at a local court in Beijing for charges of rape and assembling a crowd to engage in promiscuous activities.

The Chaoyang District People's Court did not hear the case publicly for victims' privacy concerns, according to a news release from the Beijing High People's Court.

The ruling will be given at a later date, it said.

Under China's Criminal Law, the crime of rape usually receives a jail term between three and 10 years. Under extreme circumstances, convicts face longer jail terms or even death penalty.

For the crime of assembling a crowd to engage in promiscuous activities, convicts usually receive a sentence no more than five years, according to the Criminal Law.

Wu, the 31-year-old Chinese-Canadian pop star who once had more than 50 million followers on Weibo, was detained by Chaoyang police on July 31 last year after being accused of tricking young women into having sex.

On August 16, the Chaoyang procuratorate approved the arrest of Wu on suspicion of rape.

His case triggered huge public attention in June last year when a woman calling herself Du Meizhu posted statements online alleging that Wu had lured young women and girls under the age of 18 to have sex with him in the name of recruiting actresses. Du claimed that she was one of the victims.

After Wu's case was exposed, TV, film and music industry associations in the country have called for celebrities to behave themselves and devote more energy to their professions to promote healthy development of entertainment industry and set good examples for the public.

The country's top regulator for cyberspace, radio and television also accelerated steps to regulate the entertainment industry, launching a campaign involving online variety shows in an attempt to curb irrational worship of celebrities and misconduct committed while supporting idols.