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Many younger folks in China are unemployed. Could shifting to the province assist them? The occasion propagates this. But with the transfer comes new difficulties.
A rice farmer passes a number of younger girls livestreaming along with his water buffalo. They sit on a bench by the village tree. On a desk in entrance of them are packaged rice and 1-liter vegetable oil bottles. They attempt to promote these merchandise by way of dwell streams on their cell telephones – in a small city of 200 folks within the Guizhou district of southwest China, surrounded by rice fields and sharp mountains.
Sandy, 26, lives right here in an outdated farmhouse the place she additionally rents out rooms. She is attempting to construct a life for herself. She is impressed by the numerous influencers who painting a lovely, idyllic nation life on Chinese social media platforms: “I just try out: How can I be more successful with social media content from the country. What kind of products do people in the city buy. But I also want to have a good work-life balance.”
The different younger girls are college students who’re together with her over the summer season and do what could be very standard in China: dwell streaming. E-commerce is a billion-dollar market in China. Sandy says they tried to become profitable on their very own this manner. It is troublesome to discover a job within the cities.
Sandy depends on promoting rural merchandise by way of social media. But she realizes that it’s troublesome to search out the mandatory variety of clients.
Poor prospects for younger folks
Because the job market appears to be like something however rosy for younger, well-educated folks. According to official figures, youth unemployment was lately at 17 %. The variety of unreported instances is more likely to be even greater.
The promise of development that the Communist Party as soon as held for society not applies. There are sometimes solely poorly paid jobs for college graduates.
The central authorities introduced in 2025 that twelve million younger folks in China had already returned to the nation in recent times. Accordingly, increasingly younger college graduates and workplace employees are coming again.
Frustration and self-irony
The anthropologist Xiang Biao researches Chinese youth on the Max Planck Institute in Halle. He says: “The situation is of course becoming more and more serious as economic stagnation continues to spread. At the same time, all discourses, including on social media, point to a growing awareness among the young generation of their own situation and the need to change it.”
The frustration of the younger technology has repeatedly made its means onto social media channels in recent times. Some additionally discuss with themselves as “rat people”. The self-ironic assertion: You dwell in small rooms and withdraw from society.
Mission to all ranges
The all-controlling and sole ruling Communist Party acknowledged this drawback and set it down a number of years in the past in a long-term technique paper for rural revitalization: “Young people should be encouraged and guided to return to rural regions, find a job and start a business.”
What it units out is a tenet for all decrease ranges – from native governments to universities to social media platforms. Some implement the plans, others are purported to convey the CP narrative.
The big tech firm Tencent, which owns the preferred social media app, produces its personal actuality present by which younger folks current start-up concepts in rural areas after which obtain funding. This is supported by the Communist Youth League and an agricultural college.
Billions for rural revitalization
“This whole rural development is a competition for all the local governments. They also try to promote their good projects on their platforms. This is an important resource for us”, says Guan, who wrote his thesis on regional growth alternatives in China at Harvard University.
Guan is in control of a village challenge within the comparatively wealthier a part of the nation, Zhejiang, with the tech metropolis of Hangzhou as its capital, south of the metropolis of Shanghai. Guan is satisfied that sooner or later extra younger folks will transfer to rural areas inside attain of metropolises.
The native authorities in Zhejiang offers monetary assist to younger individuals who need to construct a life within the countryside. Between 2021 and 2025 it was the equal of round 100 billion euros for the complete rural revitalization.
Guan runs a café in a village. He is satisfied that many extra younger Chinese will do what he did.
Back to city
Sandy lives removed from the richer coastal area and it is rather troublesome for her. Room rental is not going effectively. Hardly any visitors come. Live streaming additionally hardly brings in any revenue.
Xiang Biao from the Max Planck Institute in Halle acknowledges a typical sample: “In China, things that you want to promote tend to be presented as an ideal image. And that’s exactly what makes it vulnerable. Why? People easily become disillusioned.”
Sandy is not disillusioned, however: “My dream has changed. I just hope that the path I’m taking is the right one for me.”
SHe now lives within the metropolis once more, however nonetheless believes that he can sooner or later make agricultural merchandise a giant vendor by way of dwell streaming.
The total Weltspiegel documentary “Gen Z in China: Forward to the countryside!” see it on the primary – on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. and now right here within the ARD media library.
https://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/asien/china-jugend-aufs-land-100.html