Matthew Barocas is the Program Coordinator for the Trustee Chair in Chinese Business and Economics at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Barocas received an M.S. in Global Affairs from Tsinghua University in Beijing as a Schwarzman Scholar. Prior to studying in Beijing, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Florida Honors Program with a B.A. in History and Political Science.
This week, China’s National Bureau of Statistics announced it would cease collecting data on youth unemployment. The news came after nearly a decade of poor job prospects for Chinese people ages 16-24, often reported on by international media as mainly a problem affecting recent college graduates. Earlier this summer, ChinaFile’s Jessica Batke spoke with sociologist Eli Friedman, who studies international labor, about the reasons for joblessness among China’s young people and how it is covered.
In the process of searching for her son for more than 20 years, Lai Wai-ling has received thousands of letters from people across China claiming to be her son or to have her son, and asking for money and Hong Kong residency status.
