Amid a comprehensive downturn in the Chinese economy, tensions are escalating in grassroots society. According to a research institute tracking social protests in China, by the end of November, rural protest events this year have increased by 70% compared to the entire previous year. This year, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials have unprecedentedly called for strict prevention of large-scale return of migrant workers to their hometowns, seen as a measure to prevent mass uprisings.
In mid-November this year, the local governments of Lingao County in Hainan Province and Fuchuan County in Guangxi forcibly demolished a local temple and a clan ancestral hall, sparking physical conflicts between villagers and government officials.
Later in November, Xifeng County in Guiyang City, Guizhou Province, witnessed two consecutive farmer demonstration events triggered by the local government’s requirement for all deceased residents to be cremated. Villagers expressed outrage as the government’s enforced cremation policy goes against the traditional custom of burying the deceased in Chinese culture and increases financial burdens on households. Villagers angrily questioned government officials, saying, “If the Communist Party wants to dig up ancestral graves, they should start with Xi Jinping’s family graves!” (video link)
Though these protests are not large-scale and have been suppressed, scenes of passionate grievances like these are repeatedly playing out in various rural areas across China, with the number of incidents on the rise.
Citing data from the Washington-based Freedom House’s China Dissent Monitor, The Guardian reported on December 19th that up to the first 11 months of this year, 661 rural protest events have been recorded, a 70% increase compared to the entire previous year.
Prior to this, in the third quarter of 2025, China Dissent Monitor documented 1,392 protest events, a 45% increase from the same period in 2024, marking the sixth consecutive quarter of year-on-year growth. The report indicates that during the third quarter, most protests were led by workers (38%), property owners (29%), and villagers (15%).
The escalation of the volatile situation reflects the state of the Chinese economy, particularly the increasing pressure faced by low-income workers. Over the past few decades, people moved from rural China to cities seeking to improve their and their families’ lives. However, with the economic slowdown and cutthroat competition, many farmers are forced to return to their hometowns and rural areas in search of new opportunities, only to find disappointing living conditions.
Chen Chiu-rou, director and researcher at the Taiwan Institute of Sociology, pointed out that many returnees to rural areas are not yet of retirement age and carry expectations of urban life and political awareness, yet are frustrated due to the lack of economic opportunities, making them more prone to expressing dissatisfaction.
The report mentioned that rural protests are often linked to land issues, such as the anti-appropriation of farmland in Tongxing Village, Hunan Province in September. A TikTok user commented, “In the midst of an economic downturn, they (authorities) are seizing farmland, leaving villagers with no means of survival.”
Kevin Slaten, head of the Chinese Dissidents Observation Group, stated: “Many local governments are facing persistent and severe debt issues, exacerbated by the economic slowdown. This may lead to more conflicts with local residents as local governments resort to requisitioning and developing rural land to increase revenue.”
Another trend that could trigger discontent in rural China is the wave of migrant workers returning to their hometowns, although there are currently no official figures on this trend.
In late November, the CCP officials unusually publicly demanded strict prevention of large-scale return of migrant workers to their hometowns. According to British media, experts believe that rural discontent is becoming increasingly difficult to manage, and the CCP leadership is also noting the rising social unrest being revealed.
Aussie scholar Yuan Hongbing recently mentioned in an interview with Epoch Times that over the past two decades, migrant workers have mostly worked in cities, and returning to the countryside now leaves them without their original land, depriving them of the last support to live in rural areas. If migrant workers remain in rural areas, it will inevitably lead to a large population of displaced people, causing a serious threat to the stability of the CCP’s regime.
Yuan Hongbing also mentioned that the focus of the CCP’s espionage and prevention is on large and mid-sized cities, while in the vast rural areas, facing economic decline, local finances are on the verge of bankruptcy. Grassroots party and government institutions below the county level are generally withholding wages of civil servants, reducing various bonuses, including those of grassroots police officers, whose incomes cannot be guaranteed, painting a picture of the regime’s end times. He pointed out that this year’s civil protests are accumulating energy for a large-scale uprising.