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Amid widespread fear of age discrimination in China's job market ...
Today? Even university graduates can't find jobs. ... Youth unemployment has hit record highs, leading to the "lying flat" movement - young people giving up on ...
China's Demographic Future Is Now - Rhodium Group
Perhaps the most shocking statistic that China published last year was the total number of births. At only 7.92 million in 2025, total births were less than half of the number a decade ago. Demographic headwinds to household consumption growth are a “gray rhino” for China’s economy—a clearly visible threat that is nonetheless neglected. The 2025 data pointing to double the population loss from 2024 suggest the rhino is now charging directly at China’s political and economic ambitions. Our estimates of trends in death rates suggest that China will lose nearly 60 million people in the next decade, almost the size of France, with the annual decline in 2035 to hit 7.6 million. The headlines are bad, the regional breakdown is worse. The country’s most developed provinces are seeing falling populations, which will impact overall consumption and the future productivity of the labor force. The impact on household consumption is obvious, but the larger problem for Beijing may be the hit to social security funds. The fiscal subsidy to social security funds rose to a record 2.9 trillion yuan last year, or 10.1% of general budget spending, and appears set to rise in the future. Much has been written about the demographic headwinds to China’s economic growth. But these threats are typically portrayed as over the horizon, a problem for the next decade. The 2025 population statistics should force a rethink of those assumptions. What has long been described as a “gray rhino” risk—a palpable threat that is nonetheless ignored—appears to be charging sooner than expected. Last year China’s population declined by 3.4 million people, compared with a 1.4 million drop in 2024. Within that decline, the more concerning development for economic growth was its concentration in developed coastal provinces. Migration inflows boosted population growth in eastern Chinese provinces to a greater extent than natural births. The impact from these demographic pressures has already been apparent, through tepid consumption growth, credit weakness, and lower interest rates. Beijing understands the problem and has tried to encourage new births. But experience from most other countries who have embarked upon pro-natalist policies suggests that the most Beijing should hope for is slowing the population decline rather than reversing it. The 15th Five Year Plan includes an entire chapter on population, which was a new development and suggests Beijing’s current focus on demographic issues. Within go...
More foreign visitors meet Xi; Service sector boost - Sinocism
... warned “not to send valuable talent and research out of China”. In ... of 131 marine features located within China's Nansha Islands in the South China Sea.
Striving, not sinking: The hidden vitality of China's youth in transition
Characterizing China's youth as "a generation quietly giving up" is also a profound misunderstanding of their development resilience. In reality, the "lying ...
