September 05, 2018, 05:25 PM 
China's youngest ever boy band called Boy Story is making their official debut this September.
The announcement was made on Wednesday, September 5, by JYP Entertainment -- one of South Korea's largest K-pop agencies.
The company added that Boy Story, which is their first Chinese boy band, is their "bridge to the Chinese market", reported Kpop website Allkpop.
The six-member boy band is formed by JYP China, a subsidiary of JYP Entertainment, and Chinese technology and social media giant Tencent.
The K-pop agency also plans to introduce more K-pop projects in China following Boy Story's debut.
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Youngest member is 11 years old
Here are the boys that make up Boy Story.
They are, from left to right, Han Yu (14), Zi Hao (13), Ze Yu (13), Xin Long (13), Ming Rui (12), Shu Yang (11).
Images via Instagram
You can watch their first single, How Old R U, here:
And their cover of Canadian pop singer Justin Bieber's Baby (released in 2010 when Bieber was 16) here:
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Youngest girl band at the moment
As for South Korea's youngest girl band, Hi Cutie, it debuted in 2017 with the youngest member aged 11.
Screenshot of the music video for
China's obsession with 'little fresh meat'
Before Boy Story, China also introduced the world's youngest boy band at that time in 2014.
Called TFBoys, or The Fighting Boys, the oldest member, Wang Junkai, was 14, while Wang Yuan and Yi Yangqianxi were 13.
One of TF Boys' first singles, titled Manual of Youth, also had a classroom backdrop similar to Boy Story's How Old R U. (Screenshot via Youtube)
In recent years, attractive Chinese teenagers born after 1990, labelled as 'little fresh meat' or xiao xian rou, have won over Chinese consumers due to their soft, feminine features and cute personalities.
They are highly sought after by the entertainment industry, as well as companies which hope to appeal to young, mostly female consumers, according to South China Morning Post.
And unlike other markets, no 'little fresh meat' is too young in China to help international luxury brands market their products.
For instance, TF Boys' Wang Yuan, who also happen to be in Time's list of 30 Most Influential Teens in 2017, was invited to attend Swiss jeweller and watchmaker Chopard's opening day press conference.
His appearance brought increased chatter surrounding Chopard on the Chinese digital space, such as Weibo, China's most popular microblogging platform.
His bandmate, Wang Junkai, was also named the brand ambassador for Italian luxury fashion brand, Dolce & Gabbana, for the Asia Pacific region.
However, experts have cautioned brands to not be over-reliant on stars labelled as 'little fresh meat'.
As social media trends in China change rapidly, the life expectancy of such 'little fresh meat' is getting shorter, especially since an endless number is being churned out by the industry each year.
How young is too young?
Across Asia, young idol stars are not uncommon.
An extreme version can be found in Japan where girls as young as six perform on stage to enthusiastic cheers from middle-aged men.
While idol groups such as Boy Story are marketed to appeal to demographics within similar age groups, detractors say they present a risk to minors as they might be targetted by paedophiles and hebephiles.
There is also the problem of sexualising children too soon when they are encouraged to behave in sexually provocative ways that are otherwise common by the industry's standards.
Such problems are not limited to Asia.
Child beauty pageants and American reality shows such as Toddlers & Tiaras have raised concerns among critics, with some saying they might teach children to over-value physical attractiveness and neglect other aspects of healthy child development.
Top image via Boy Story/IG
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