Almost every fifth young person between the ages of 16 and 24 is unemployed in China’s cities – more than ever before. “I live at home on the financial support of my family,” says 23-year-old Yu. She hasn’t been able to find a job since graduating from Changchun University in northeast China more than a year ago.
“Because of the pandemic, companies are struggling and a lot of people are losing their jobs – not to mention all the university graduates who have no work experience,” says the young woman from Huludao (Liaoning province), who does not want to give her full name .
The crisis is ignored
Unemployment and the economic crisis cast a bad light on the current five-year congress of the Communist Party in Beijing. But although state and party leader Xi Jinping propagates his leitmotif of “general prosperity” almost every day to the 2,300 delegates in the Great Hall, there is no talk of the problems outside. Bad news is undesirable. The crisis is ignored. The announcement of the most recent foreign trade and growth figures was postponed at short notice.
In addition to the constant lockdowns due to the strict zero-Covid strategy, the second largest economy is suffering from the worst real estate crisis to date, poor domestic demand and over-indebtedness. In the second quarter, growth reached only 0.4 percent. The government will fall well short of its growth target of 5.5 percent this year. The World Bank expects only 2.8 percent. That would be only the second time in four decades that growth has been this low, following the first year of the 2020 pandemic. China is growing at a slower pace than the rest of Asia for the first time since 1990.
“We learn everything but nothing”
23-year-old Yu also blames China’s university education for her poor chances. “Everything that is taught at the university is very superficial,” says the young woman, who studied art and animation. “We learn everything but nothing. Various things but nothing specific.” Without the right qualifications, it is difficult to find a job. “I feel like I went to college for nothing.” Now she is retraining, learning traditional Chinese medicine from a doctor.
“Unemployment is higher than ever. Business failures, especially small and medium-sized ones, are widespread,” says Wu Qiang, a former politics lecturer at the renowned Tsinghua University. “Municipalities are under enormous financial pressure.” Zero Covid and Xi Jinping’s economic policies triggered the worst crisis in decades. China has accumulated wealth over three decades of reforms and developed a middle class. “But they lack political representation and avenues for their voice to be heard.”
Xi Jinping faced with “most miserable economy”.
The party congress is about anchoring Xi Jinping’s ideology even more deeply in the constitution, expanding his power and confirming it for another five years. In his third term in office, Xi Jinping is confronted with the “most miserable economy” that China has seen in decades, says Jacob Gunter of the Merics China Institute in Berlin. The mood is bad. Many Chinese prepared for bad times. By saving, consumption suffers, although the government wants to stimulate the economy through stronger domestic demand. “It’s exactly the opposite of what Xi Jinping wants for the economy.”
Most of her classmates have been looking for work in vain, Ms. Yu says. Even those who would have done a master’s or doctorate. There are also now many Chinese who are returning to China from studying abroad because of the pandemic. “There’s no shortage of people,” says the 23-year-old. “More talent, more choice for companies and more demand.” The young woman is not expecting anything from the current party conference in Beijing either: “I don’t care much about politics, so I don’t follow it.”
