Society

news and reports on contemporary social issues in Greater China

China tries to expand social safety net

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Source: NYT (8/29/25)
China Is Trying to Expand Its Social Safety Net. Yet Many Chinese Are Worried.
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A move to force employers to pay into benefits for their employees has left people worrying that small businesses will close and jobs will be lost.
By Vivian Wang, Reporting from Beijing

Couples walking outside a building, including women in loose maternity wear.

Outside a maternity hospital in Beijing last year. As of Sept. 1, all employers in China must contribute to benefits for their employees, to support their pensions, medical care, maternity leave and more. Credit…Andrea Verdelli for The New York Times

As of Sept. 1, all employers in China must contribute to benefits for their employees, to support their pensions, medical care, maternity leave and more.

That should come as good news to many ordinary Chinese, given how threadbare China’s social safety net has been. But rather than celebrating, many in China have reacted with worry and frustration.

Small business owners have said that their labor costs will skyrocket. Workers have speculated that their bosses will lay them off or lower their salaries. Economists have warned that the policy could push more people into the gig economy, possibly lowering the formal employment rate and stripping workers of protections.

“If they force us to pay, we’ll have to close up shop and go home,” said Yan Xuejiao, whose family runs a rice noodle shop in Beijing.

“Especially the way business is going this year, ask around — which business owner is able?” she continued, gesturing at the empty restaurants, hers included, on the downtown street. “We’re all about to give up our leases and quit.” Continue reading China tries to expand social safety net →

Mass protest in Jiangyou

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Source: China Digital Timess (8/22/25)
Sensitive Words: Intense Online Censorship of Video and Hashtags About Mass Protests in Jiangyou, Sichuan Province
By Cindy Carter

Following rare mass protests that broke out in the city of Jiangyou in Sichuan province earlier this month in response to the bullying of a 14-year-old girl, CDT Chinese editors have tracked unusually intense online censorship of related videos, photos, hashtags, articles, comments, and other content.

The protests were sparked by a July 22 incident of verbal and physical abuse against a girl by three other teenaged girls in an abandoned building. Footage of the abuse taken by bystanders spread online, and although the incident was reported to city police the same evening, it was not until August 2 that police finally brought the girls in for questioning. Two days later, the police issued a statement announcing that two of the bullies had been sent to correctional school and that another, along with some of the bystanders, had been given formal reprimands. The slap-on-the-wrist punishment for such a serious assault—along with the fact that the girl, whose mother is deaf and whose father is a migrant worker, had been frequently bullied beforehand—provoked public outrage.

Hundreds of local residents gathered in front of Jiangyou City Hall to support the family and protest officials’ callous handling of the case. Protest videos shared online showed the crowd arguing with local officials, singing the national anthem, shouting slogans such as “No to bullying” and “Give us back democracy.” As the crowds grew, a large number of police were dispatched to “maintain order.” The police used batons and pepper spray on the protesters, many of whom were arrested and carted away in red trucks usually used to transport pigs. Videos shared online showed people bloodied, beaten, and being removed from the protest site. Suppression continued until the following morning, and military trucks equipped with cell-phone signal jammers appeared on the scene. (For additional Chinese-language video content, see below for CDT Chinese’s CDTV compilation about the protests, and “The Jiangyou Incident,” a YouTube documentary from @YesterdayBigcat.) Continue reading Mass protest in Jiangyou →

Aging workers struggle for work

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Source: NYT (8/26/25)
Too Old, Too Uneducated: Aging Workers in Beijing Struggle for Work
China’s economic slowdown has fallen especially hard on older migrant workers, who often don’t have the technical skills that employers are seeking.
By Vivian Wang, Vivian Wang reported from Beijing’s largest labor market.

People stand around a dark intersection. One man with a balding head is illuminated by a street lamp. The sky in the distance is a pink hue.

Workers looking for day labor jobs near Majuqiao, in Beijing, around 4 a.m. one day in July. People from around the country gather here every morning for a chance to earn money. Credit…Qilai Shen for The New York Times

The intersection is quiet at 4 a.m., but not as quiet as one might expect. Fluorescent light radiates from all-night breakfast stalls. People, mostly men, loiter in small groups on the sidewalk, silently eating steamed buns. Everyone seems to be waiting.

Around 4:30, the first rays of sun appear, and it becomes clear what everyone was waiting for.

Job recruiters ride up on electric scooters and, without getting off, start shouting out day rates — 170 yuan! 180! (That’s about $25.) The early risers swarm around them to hear what’s on offer: gigs pouring concrete on construction sites, or packaging bottled drinks, or cleaning buildings. From cheap dormitories nearby, more workers, men and women, stream out. By the time the sun is up, this intersection in Majuqiao, a neighborhood on the southern outskirts of Beijing, is full of hundreds of people. Continue reading Aging workers struggle for work →

Property crisis has no end in sight

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Source: NYT (8/25/25)
5 Years On, China’s Property Crisis Has No End in Sight
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The government had set out to slow speculation, kicking off a slowdown in real estate values that is still grinding on with wide economic consequences.
By Daisuke Wakabayashi and Joy Dong, Daisuke Wakabayashi, who covers Asia business and economics, is based in Seoul. Joy Dong reported from Hong Kong

A China Evergrande development in Beijing on Saturday. Credit…Andrea Verdelli for The New York Times

When China Evergrande, once the biggest Chinese property developer, went public in Hong Kong in 2009, the country’s real estate market was red-hot. The frenzy over the company was so intense that for every lucky person who bought at least one share of stock, 46 others were shut out.

How times have changed.

Now a symbol of China’s real estate boom and bust, Evergrande was delisted from the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday, four years after the company first warned that it was facing financial difficulties and two years after it sought bankruptcy protection.

Evergrande’s collapse, with $300 billion in debt, mirrors the slow and painful unwinding of China’s property sector. Government policies staved off a sudden crash, and instead delivered a grinding slowdown.

The housing downturn has not delivered the devastating shock that the United States suffered in the 2008 financial crisis, but it has been hanging over the economy for five years with no end in sight. Last month, new home prices dropped at their fastest pace in nine months and the prices of secondhand homes continued to slide, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China. Continue reading Property crisis has no end in sight →

‘Reverse Runology’

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Source: China Digital Times (8/15/25)
“Reverse Runology?” Some Émigrés Reconsider Their Escape from China
By Arthur Kaufman

The struggle for a better life has long pushed many Chinese citizens to escape difficult conditions at home. In the most recent waves of emigration, tens of thousands of Chinese migrants have made perilous journeys through Central America along the “walking route,” or zǒuxiàn (走线), in an attempt to reach the southern U.S. border. But the political climate at their destination has become increasingly hostile, particularly under the new U.S. administration, which has deterred Chinese tech talent and restricted Chinese student visas (building on restrictive measures under the previous administration). Now, some Chinese migrants are reconsidering their escape routes and looking beyond America—or returning home.

The impetus to emigrate in recent years is encapsulated by the term “run” (润) or “runology” (润学). Recent CDT translations have illustrated how persistent youth unemployment, continual pandemic-era surveillance, and a repressive political environment, among other issues, have contributed to a feeling of malaise and a loss of faith in the Chinese Dream. Last week in the Made in China Journal, Dino Ge Zhang situated “runology” in the context of “Sinopessimism”, describing it among other negative affects and exit strategies for youth disenchanted with contemporary Chinese life. But the author hinted that the practice of runology ultimately may not yield desirable results, particularly for those who have chosen to flee to the U.S.: Continue reading ‘Reverse Runology’ →

Unemployed youths pretending to have jobs

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Source: BBC NEWS (8/11/25)
China’s unemployed young adults who are pretending to have jobs
By Sylvia Chang, BBC News Chinese, Hong Kong

BBC Shui Zhou, a young adult who pretends to have an office job, makes the victory sign with both hands that he is holding up in the air

Shui Zhou pays to go into an office every day.

No-one would want to work without getting a salary, or even worse – having to pay to be there.

Yet paying companies so you can pretend to work for them has become popular among young, unemployed adults in China. It has led to a growing number of such providers.

The development comes amid China’s sluggish economy and jobs market. Chinese youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, at more than 14%.

With real jobs increasingly hard to come by, some young adults would rather pay to go into an office than be just stuck at home.

Shui Zhou, 30, had a food business venture that failed in 2024. In April of this year, he started to pay 30 yuan ($4.20; £3.10) per day to go into a mock-up office run by a business called Pretend To Work Company, in the city of Dongguan, 114 km (71 miles) north of Hong Kong. Continue reading Unemployed youths pretending to have jobs →

China limits public employees’ travel

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Source: NYT (8/3/25)
No Passports, No Study Abroad: China Limits Public Employees’ Travel
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Even low-level government employees like elementary school teachers and nurses have been ordered to hand in their passports, to enforce “discipline.”
By Vivian Wang, reporting from Beijing

Candidates lining up for a civil service exam in Nanjing, China, last year. Credit…CFOTO/Future Publishing, via Getty Images

When Tina Liu was hired to teach literature in a public elementary school in southern China, her contract included the usual warnings about absenteeism and job performance.

Then came another line: Traveling abroad without the school’s permission could get her fired.

The rule was reinforced in a staff group chat. “According to regulations from higher-ups, teachers need to strengthen their disciplinary awareness,” the message said. “We will currently not permit any overseas vacations.”

Across China, similar warnings are spreading as the authorities tighten control over state employees’ contacts with foreigners. Some kindergarten teachers, doctors and even government contractors and employees of state-owned enterprises have been ordered to hand in their passports. Some cities make retirees wait two years to reclaim their passports.

In many cities, travel overseas by public employees, even for personal reasons, requires approval. Business trips abroad for “ordinary research, exchange and study” have been banned. And in most provinces, those who have studied abroad are now disqualified from certain public positions. Continue reading China limits public employees’ travel →

Toxic Backlash

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Source: China Media Project (7/22/25)
Toxic Backlash
The expulsion of a Chinese student for appearing in videos posted online by Ukrainian gamer videos sparks a debate about sexism — and shameless exploitation amid the discussion.
By David Bandurski

Dalian Polytechnic University.

In a story that topped headlines and internet chatter in China last week, Dalian Polytechnic University in China’s northern Liaoning province sparked outrage by expelling a 21-year-old female student for appearing in videos posted nearly seven months ago to the Telegram account of a visiting Ukrainian esports player. Videos of the student in the visitor’s hotel room showed nothing sexually explicit, and it was unclear why the videos had become an issue now, but the university responded vehemently with a public statement naming the student and accusing her of “improper association with foreigners” (与外国人不当交往) that had “damaged national dignity and the school’s reputation” (有损国格、校誉).

The story ignited a fierce debate across Chinese social media over institutional overreach and gender double standards, trending on Weibo on July 13.

Media commentator Zhang Feng (张丰) criticized “sexual nationalism,” arguing that while Chinese men dating foreign women might be seen as acceptable or even deserving praise, the opposite invites fury among sexist males who see Chinese women as property of men and the state. Xiaoxi Cicero (小西cicero), a writer who posts on WeChat, asked whether the same nationalist uproar and expulsion would have followed had a young Chinese man been shown on video with a visiting foreign woman.

One Chinese Substacker summed up the toxic combination of sexism and state-driven nationalism with the pithy post headline: “National Dignity is Not a Penis You Can Brandish at Will.” Continue reading Toxic Backlash →

Video game plays to male resentment

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Source: NYT (7/17/25)
‘Who Killed Love?’ A Video Game Plays to Male Resentment in China.
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A popular and contentious game, Revenge on Gold Diggers, sheds light on misogyny, inequality and the feeling among many men that they are economic victims.
By Li Yuan

An illustration showing the backs of four women examining a close-up of an eye on a large screen or painting.

Credit…Lisk Feng.

A deliveryman falls for a female livestreamer. She seduces him, drains his savings, then vanishes. Heartbroken, he reinvents himself as a successful businessman seeking revenge on women like her.

This is the plot of Revenge on Gold Diggers, one of the most popular and contentious video games in China.

The interactive game, which debuted in June to enormous success, temporarily topped the charts on Steam China, the local version of the global gaming platform. Its tagline, “Who killed love? It’s the gold diggers who killed love,” has electrified Chinese social media. Players, cast as “emotional fraud hunters,” navigate romantic relationships, searching for deception while guarding their wallets — and their hearts.

One of the most liked comments on the game’s community board calls it “an elegy for our generation of Chinese men.” Another declares, “Men must never retreat — this is a fight to the death.”

The game has drawn the enthusiasm of disaffected young men, and fierce criticism from other corners. It has been decried as misogynistic. Some male gamers complain it panders to the Chinese government’s concerns about plummeting marriage and birth rates. Continue reading Video game plays to male resentment →

University expels woman for ‘improper contact’ with a foreigner

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Source: NYT (7/14/25)
Chinese University Expels Woman for ‘Improper Contact’ With a Foreigner
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The university published the student’s full name and said her behavior had “damaged national dignity.” The move prompted an online debate and accusations of sexism.
By Vivian Wang, Reporting from Beijing

A man with a headset staring at a computer monitor.

Danylo Teslenko, who goes by the nickname Zeus, at a gaming event in Poland in 2019. Mr. Teslenko had shared videos of himself with a Chinese woman that led to her expulsion from university. Credit…Norbert Barczyk/PressFocus, via MB Media, via Getty Images

A Chinese university said that it would expel a student because she had had “improper contact with a foreigner” and “damaged national dignity,” after videos circulated online that suggested she had been intimate with a Ukrainian video gamer.

The announcement set off heated debate in China. Some commentators applauded the decision and said that Chinese people — particularly women — were too enamored of foreigners. But others said the expulsion smacked of sexism and paternalism, and compared it to examples of people accused of rape or sexual harassment on campus who had been punished more lightly.

Many also criticized the university, Dalian Polytechnic University, in northeastern China, for publicly shaming the student by posting its expulsion notice on its website last week and identifying the student by her full name.

“If there is anyone who truly undermined national dignity in this case, it was not the woman whose privacy rights were violated,” Zhao Hong, a professor of law at Peking University in Beijing, wrote in an opinion column, “but the online spectators who frantically humiliated an ordinary woman under the banner of so-called justice, and the educational institution that used stale moral commandments.” Continue reading University expels woman for ‘improper contact’ with a foreigner →

Princeton UP head joins China’s propaganda game (1)

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A lot more debate and beginning analysis is unfolding online, regarding the Princeton University Press scandal (but, we don’t yet see anything in big media — and nothing in the Daily Princetonian … ):

Recommended thread analyzing just how closely Princeton University Press parrots the party line (literally): https://bsky.app/profile/davidstroup.bsky.social/post/3lsper67des24

Another recommended thread on the Princeton University Press propaganda performance:

https://bsky.app/profile/protass.bsky.social/post/3lsqjto26r223

Another thread regarding Princeton University Press’ trip to Xinjiang

https://x.com/JimMillward/status/1939410493334335781

Further discussion, including of the Princeton statement justifying the trip:

https://bsky.app/profile/melissakchan.bsky.social/post/3lsrphzneks2w

https://x.com/melissakchan/status/1939681417711214986 Continue reading Princeton UP head joins China’s propaganda game (1) →

National Internet ID System

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Source: China Digital Times (6/26/25)
Rights Defenders Criticize Upcoming Rollout of National Internet ID System
By Arthur Kaufman

Last summer, the Chinese government released a proposal for a national internet ID system. The proposal was met with strong opposition, which was heavily censored online. (See CDT’s past coverage for examples.) The final rules for this new system were then released in May of this year, will be implemented on July 15, and remain largely similar to the original draft that was widely criticized. As the rollout date approaches, experts and activists voiced concern about the impact of these centralized internet controls.

On Wednesday, Article 19 and Chinese Human Rights Defenders (CHRD) released a joint analysis calling the new internet ID system a threat to online expression. They predicted that the system would negatively affect human rights defenders as a result of increased state surveillance and reduced anonymity; privacy concerns and lack of government accountability; and state control without borders.

Shane Yi, researcher at CHRD said: “Internet users across China already endure heavy censorship and control by the government. The new Internet ID regulations escalate Beijing’s attack on free speech, putting human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, and anyone who questions authority at even greater risk.”

[…] Michael Caster, ARTICLE 19’s Head of Global China Programme said: “Anonymity provides for the privacy and security fundamental to exercising the freedom of opinion and expression. In further chipping away at potential online anonymity through the creation of a national internet ID, in an ecosystem where the Cybersecurity Law already mandates real-name identity verification, China is clearly seeking to intensify its efforts at silencing critical voices. And as China continues to position itself as a global digital governance standard-setter and cyber superpower, the risk is furthermore that we see such repressive policies gain traction beyond China’s borders.” [Source] Continue reading National Internet ID System →

The Chinese dream is slipping away

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Source: NYT (6/23/25)
‘The Better Life Is Out of Reach’: The Chinese Dream Is Slipping Away
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Promised a path to prosperity through hard work and education, China’s working class youths are hitting immovable ceilings.
By Li Yuan

In an illustration, a family stands on a first-place platform with gold medals around the necks of the two children. Behind them, a five-by-five grid contains images of young adults struggling to run a race on a red track.

Credit…Dongyan Xu

Since the 1980s, more than 800 million Chinese have risen out of poverty. China’s middle class expanded from virtually no one to about 400 million. Villagers moved to cities. Tens of millions of people became the first in their families to attend college.

Today, China’s economic growth has slowed. As wages stagnate and jobs disappear, the promise of upward social mobility is eroding, especially for those from modest backgrounds.

For many people like Boris Gao, the Chinese Dream no longer feels achievable.

After Mr. Gao’s parents were laid off from their jobs at state-owned factories, his father drove a taxi and his mother stayed home. The family struggled to make ends meet. To save money, his mother canceled a text message service from his school, causing him to miss notifications of homework and school activities.

But Mr. Gao was exceptionally driven. After graduating from college in 2016, he worked hard, saved aggressively and attended a graduate program in Hong Kong. Since 2024, his job hunt has been an ordeal. One company asked him to work with no pay during a trial period. He quit a job after not being paid for two months. Another company rejected him because he was educated outside mainland China, making him politically unreliable, he was told.

In one interview, he was asked about his parents’ professions, which is not unusual in China. “Your family has low social status,” Mr. Gao was told and did not get the job.

“To them, perseverance is a defect,” he said. “If you have to struggle, it means you’re not good enough.”

Anxiety over inequality is growing in China. Children of privilege inherit not only wealth but also prestigious jobs and powerful connections. Children of laborers and farmers, no matter how driven or well educated, often struggle to break through. Continue reading The Chinese dream is slipping away →

Never-ending screenings of ‘Ne Zha 2’

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Source: China Digital Times (5/27/25)
Netizen Voices: Never-Ending Screenings of “Ne Zha 2” Are “Off the Rails”
By Arthur Kaufman

The Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” has continued its record-breaking run, grossing over $2 billion worldwide and remaining on China’s top-five box-office list over 110 days after its release. But the film’s success has belied its curated image and masked a broader chill for the Chinese box office. Many Chinese companies and schools have organised patriotic outings and repeat viewings to boost box-office figures. Articles and comments critical of “Ne Zha 2” have been deleted from social media platforms, and Chinese bloggers and reviewers have reported being criticized or attacked online for expressing dissenting views about the film. Now, news that screenings of the animated blockbuster will be extended to June 30—the fourth extension thus far—has drawn mockery from netizens who wonder whether there will ever be an end to official efforts at promoting the film:

专踢周宁海那条好腿: Wouldn’t it be nice if they could bring things full circle by extending its release to next Lunar New Year?

waldeinsamkeit: This is turning into a joke. Why not extend it straight through to the end of summer vacation?

还不是尽头: Haha, might as well extend it until “Wolf Warrior 3” comes out.

专属小杰哥哥: If you don’t watch “Ne Zha,” you’re not Chinese.
无敌暴龙战士: We’ve fast-forwarded to: “If you don’t watch ____, you’re not Chinese.”

NN: I was banished to Singapore because I didn’t watch “Ne Zha.”

余杭: While it’s normal for theatrical releases to be extended, it’s obvious that the wall-to-wall publicity for “Ne Zha 2” has sapped whatever goodwill it once had.

横蛮但却恐惧: Couldn’t you theatres and film associations manage to coordinate with each other to show some other movies? Over the past few months, there have been a few new movies I honestly wanted to see, but they never showed up in theatres. Theatres have just been extending release dates and rescreening old films day after day. I’m baffled—I want to go out and spend money but they won’t let me.

立鑫: In the past, no matter how good a movie was, it would never stay in theatres this long. Besides investors trying to wring the last bit of profit out of a dying market, there’s an acute shortage of resources being invested in film.

Joe.: It’s kind of gone off the rails. These endless extensions just to chase box office clout seem pointless.[Chinese] Continue reading Never-ending screenings of ‘Ne Zha 2’ →

Nepo babies with connections and resources

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Source: China Digital Times (5/15/25)
Words of the Week: “Nepo Babies With Connections and Resources” (关系咖 guānxi kā, 资源咖 zīyuán kā)
By Cindy Carter

The recent “4+4” scandal, which started with the public exposure of one doctor’s extramarital affairs and medical malpractice, has morphed into a broader societal discussion about medical and personal ethics, research fraud, “returnee” students, intergenerational privilege, nepotism, and more. The themes of privilege and nepotism seem to have resonated most deeply with Chinese netizens, particularly given China’s cutthroat job market and stubbornly high unemployment rates for young workers and recent graduates. Most galling to many was the revelation of an exclusive “4+4” medical doctoral program at prestigious Peking Union Medical College: a fast-track program that would allow certain students with four-year bachelor’s degrees (even those unrelated to medicine) from certain elite universities to obtain a Ph.D. in medicine in only four additional years, compared to a much longer timeline for most aspiring Chinese doctors.

In a WeChat essay about what the “4+4” scandal reveals about the “second-generation privilege” enjoyed by those whose well-connected parents are able to smooth their way into desirable internships, academic programs, and sought-after jobs, essayist and commentator Xipo (“Western Slope”) wrote: “Amid deteriorating [socioeconomic] circumstances, second-generation scions may happily ‘settle’ for enjoying their second-generation privilege, but today’s bona-fide ‘first generation,’ those with no parental legacy to lean on, suffer a dual blow. There are fewer opportunities available to them, and increasingly unfair competition for the few opportunities that do remain.”

The dialogue surrounding the “4+4” scandal also reveals a wealth of slang words and phrases used to describe nepotism, connections, social capital, and intergenerational privilege. Two words in particular are worth a closer examination: 关系咖 (guānxi kā) and 资源咖 (zīyuán kā) are used to refer to “well-connected” and “well-resourced” nepo babies, respectively. Another possible translation for these terms might be “well-connected scions” and “well-resourced scions.” Both feature the character 咖 (kā), employed as a suffix in Hokkien-dialect words such as 大咖 (dà kā), meaning a “big shot” or powerful high-flying type. (RealTime Mandarin’s Andrew Methven provides some fascinating background on the etymology and use of 咖 in contemporary Chinese slang.) Continue reading Nepo babies with connections and resources →