Notes from ChinaFile
08.17.23
What’s Behind the Youth Unemployment Statistics Beijing Just Decided to Stop Publishing?
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...
Features
07.10.23
For Beijing, Putting People Back to Work May Prove a Tough Job
In a small Chinese town where unemployment has run high during the COVID-19 pandemic, the local government has embraced a surprising remedy to joblessness: public toilets. Fugong Village, in Guangdong province, usually sees nearly half of its small...
Conversation
06.16.22
China’s Record Urban Youth Unemployment
China has recorded its highest level of unemployment among urban youth since the country began tracking it in 2018. In March, 16 percent of Chinese city-dwellers aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, compared to 13.6 percent a year earlier. In May, that...
Conversation
03.28.20
Is U.S.-China Cooperation on COVID-19 Still Possible?
Over the past two weeks, as the outbreak of the virus known has COVID-19 has accelerated its deadly spread around the world, an already collapsing U.S.-China relationship appears to be entering a period of free fall. This is happening at a moment...
Conversation
05.18.18
Does China Have a Jobs Problem?
In a surprise Sunday tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump said he supported helping the phone-maker ZTE, a Chinese tech giant which has been one of the hardest hit from U.S.-China trade tensions. “Too many jobs in China lost,” he wrote. Though Trump...
The China Africa Project
01.03.18
Industrial Parks Are Africa’s Latest Gamble to Lure Chinese Manufacturers
Freelance journalist William Davison joins Eric and Cobus to discuss his reporting from the Hawassa Industrial Park in Ethiopia, which is the latest high-stakes gamble taken by a number of African countries to lure Chinese manufacturers. Officials...
ChinaFile Recommends
09.27.17As China’s Economy Slows, ‘Business Cults’ Prey on Young Job Seekers
New York Times
Some look like high-tech firms, promising young college graduates a fast track to riches. Others pose as charitable groups on a membership drive, or companies building a sales network for a new product. Tens of millions across China are signing up—...
ChinaFile Recommends
04.21.17Why India Can’t Afford to Miss out on China’s Belt and Road Plan
South China Morning Post
India-China relations has been plagued by a low level of trust due to unresolved territorial disputes.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.21.16China’s Short-Changing Its Future
Bloomberg
One of the most critical tasks is developing a workforce for the 21st century.
Depth of Field
07.01.16
Tornados and Drag Queens
from Yuanjin Photo
Being a photojournalist involves reacting to breaking news, a dedication to long-term projects, and everything in between. This month’s showcase of work by Chinese photographers published in Chinese media underscores this range of angles: from the...
ChinaFile Recommends
06.14.16China Evicts Hundreds To Make Way For Disney Park
CBS News
Shanghai residents and businesses are displaces with little to no compensation....
ChinaFile Recommends
06.06.16China's Hidden Unemployment Rate
Bloomberg
The jobless rate has trippled to 12.9 percent, compared with the official estimate of 4 percent, according to a new report by Fathom Consulting.
ChinaFile Recommends
12.15.15China’s Workers Are Fighting Back as Economic Dream Fades
Wall Street Journal
For workers like Li Jiang, factory closings represent a failed promise of a better life earned far from home.
ChinaFile Recommends
04.24.15China Employment Resilient Despite Slower Economic Growth
Reuters
The world's No. 2 economy created 3.24M new jobs in Q1, down from 3.44 million during the same period last year.
ChinaFile Recommends
01.07.15China to Expand Unemployment Benefits to Lure Migrants to Cities
Reuters
Chinese municipal governments must widen unemployment benefits to residents who are not registered locally, China said on Wednesday, as it dismantles hurdles to urbanization efforts by easing conditions for migrant workers.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.24.14Beijing Has Top-Secret View of China’s Employment
Wall Street Journal
China’s government knows something investors don’t—well, a lot of things actually. But that is especially true when it comes to the country’s labor market.
ChinaFile Recommends
09.11.13Letter from Beijing
Prospect Magazine
For recent college graduates strugglgin to find a job, positions inside the government, the state enterprises and state banks, which offer steady incomes and generous benefits, have increased dramatically in their appeal.
ChinaFile Recommends
07.31.13From Cities To Farms: Is Agriculture The Next Boom For China?
Offbeat China
With some 6.99 million fresh graduates, 2013 is said to be the toughest year for China’s new graduates to land a job. But job hunting isn’t a concern for design-majored Chen and his girlfriend Du. The young couple, who just rented 1.5 acres of land...
ChinaFile Recommends
02.05.13China to Make State Firms Turn Over More Profits
Wall Street Journal
China unveiled guidelines on its long-awaited income redistribution plan by saying it would boost income for the poor, tighten its grip on illegal income and ask state companies to contribute more profits to the government.
Features
12.18.12
College Graduates Compete for Jobs Sweeping Streets
from Tablet
Tong Peng spent six months discovering his bachelor’s degree was “worthless” before deciding to apply for a job as a street sweeper.He graduated from college in Harbin in June, 2012, not expecting to find it so tough to find work with a college...
ChinaFile Recommends
12.09.12Chinese Survey Shows a Higher Jobless Rate
Wall Street Journal
A new survey shows that the real unemployment rate in China is double the official level, and layoffs rose sharply among migrant workers in the past year, underlining a challenge for China's new leaders to maintain growth. The survey...