China has hit a record-high youth unemployment rate. A Chinese researcher warned in his recent analysis that the unemployment figure may surge further in the coming three years.
“In general, from now until 2030, it will be the most challenging period for employment since China’s reform and opening up,” writes Wang Mingyuan, a researcher at a Chinese think-tank based in Beijing.
In April, the urban-surveyed unemployment rate of those aged 16–24 was 20.4 percent, nearly four times the national rate of 5.2 percent, according to Fu Linghui, a spokesperson for China’s National Statistics Bureau at a press briefing in May.
This unemployment rate exceeded the former high of 19.9 percent disclosed by Beijing in 2022 during the hardest pandemic lockdowns, when people were strictly kept motionless and businesses were closed….