China's youth desperate: Record unemployment is going to flee!

China's youth desperate: Record unemployment is going to flee!

The economic situation in China is becoming increasingly worrying, especially for the young population. Almost every fifth young person in China has no job that indicates a profound crisis that could also have an impact on other countries, including Germany.

An example of the precarious location is shown at a job fair in Beijing, where almost twelve million university graduates are looking for employment this year. With an unemployment rate of 21.3 percent among the 16 to 24 year olds in June 2023, this is a sad record that only takes into account the urban regions. In the country the rate could even be twice as high.

The way to migration

These worrying numbers drive many young Chinese into emigration. A drastic example is the number of immigrants from China, which was picked up on the southern border of the USA in 2023 - almost 37,000, which is almost ten times as much as in the previous year. In many cases, these people flee from hopelessness and the broken economic promises in their homeland.

Maximilian Butek from the German Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai explains that in particular, economic factors make young people look for opportunities abroad. "You no longer see a future in the People's Republic," he says, referring to the terrifying statistics on youth unemployment.

In order to explain the causal factors, many experts lead the stagnating economy of China. For example, economic growth in the second quarter of 2024 was only 4.7 percent compared to the previous year, an amount that is not sufficient to get millions of other people out of poverty. The time of the two -digit growth rates in the nineties seems to be a thing of the past.

economic challenges and consumer protection

A significant problem is the uncertainty that affects consumption. If you don't have a job, buy less. Young people who often act as driving power in consumption are particularly affected. These two aspects reinforce each other: a high level of youth unemployment leads to a decline in expenses, which in turn contains the economy.

experts also warn that China could export its problems - especially to Africa, where an emerging infrastructure program of China already leads to a massive use of Chinese workers. This economic influence could further increase and thus negatively influence the local markets of the specific African countries.

The Chinese government has declared a priority to combat youth unemployment. However, skeptical voices, such as that of Butek, argue that short -term measures will not be sufficient, especially when it comes to modernizing industries that may lead to massive job relocations.

The slowdown of consumption is also evident in the commercial figures. While Chinese exports rose by 8.7 percent in August, imports only grew by 0.5 percent. This indicates that the demand for foreign goods decreases, which also strikes back on Germany.

in 2023, Chinese imports from Germany fell by almost ten percent, and the first data indicate that this decline could even strengthen this year. For the experts, this is a sign that the economic integration between Germany and China is in a critical moment.