Recent data from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) official sources shows a sharp decline in the number of employees in the financial and real estate industries, which are traditionally considered golden industries. Over the past five years, the financial industry has seen a reduction of 5.8 million employees, while the residential construction industry witnessed a decrease of 10 million employees. Experts have a pessimistic view of the Chinese economy in 2025, stating that the interdependence between the golden industries and the struggling economy is dragging China into a downward spiral.
According to the economic census data from the mainland, the number of employees in the financial industry and real estate development industry has significantly decreased from the end of 2018 to the end of 2023. Many individuals have been forced to transition to social media platforms, self-media, state-owned enterprises, or other fields to make a living.
A 37-year-old Shanghai man who used to work in investment banking shared on a self-media platform how the once thriving investment banking industry has drastically changed in a few years. During the expansion period, top graduates and talents from various industries eagerly entered investment banking, where billion-dollar projects were common. However, since the beginning of 2024, everything has changed, with many fleeing like a run on the bank. The current state of investment banking is unappealing to those working on projects, with increased workloads, ongoing updates and waiting, reduced benefits, dream-like bonuses, endless business trips, leading to self-doubt and anxiety.
Economist David Huang, who is of Chinese descent in the United States, analyzed the decline in the number of financial industry employees, attributing it to factors such as tightened policies, slowing economic growth, and industry adjustments. He noted that the CCP’s attempts to seize global financial dominance through the securities industry over the past decades led to the proliferation of shadow banking, internet financial fraud, various fraudulent funds, and illegal lending practices, resulting in financial risks and scams in China. In recent years, the CCP has intensified the overhaul of the financial services industry, leading to the disappearance of positions created during the previous era of rapid and unregulated growth.
Huang further explained that the significant decrease in employment in the real estate and construction industries is due to factors like demographic structure, housing market contraction, urbanization, government crackdown on the real estate market, corporate bankruptcies, and the ripple effect on related industries, leading to an industry chain constriction.
Meanwhile, financial expert Xu Zhen in mainland China emphasized the interdependence of the financial industry on the real economy and how problems in the real economy, such as the downturn in the real estate sector, quickly affect the financial industry. He highlighted the significant impact of the Evergrande Group’s debt crisis in 2021 on multiple industries, estimating that the direct and indirect unemployment resulting from the crisis could exceed 10 million people.
The latest national economic census data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on December 26 revealed a 32% decrease in the number of financial industry employees compared to five years ago. However, the reliability of CCP’s economic data is widely known to be questionable, often involving concealment and fabrication.
A female white-collar worker in the banking industry for ten years and later in investment banking for three years shared on social media how her friends and colleagues in the financial industry faced pay cuts and resignations. The reduction in wages was part of a broader trend where experienced professionals were forced to seek alternative means of livelihood due to the challenging circumstances in the financial sector.
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