The employment situation in mainland China is becoming increasingly severe, and even the official statistics of the Chinese Communist Party have to admit that the unemployment rate is rising. However, the Chinese Communist Party continues to use terms like “flexible employment” and “returning to hometowns for entrepreneurship” to cover up the true numbers and portray a rosy picture.
According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Chinese Communist Party in December 2024, the average urban unemployment rate in China was 5.1% in 2024. In December, the unemployment rate for labor forces aged 16-24 (excluding students) was 15.7%, while for those aged 30-59, it was 3.9%. However, the urban unemployment rate announced on March 20 this year was 5.4%, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than the annual average of the previous year. The unemployment rate for the 16-24 age group was 16.9%, an increase of 1.2 percentage points from December last year, while the unemployment rate for the 30-59 age group was 4.3%, up 0.4 percentage points from December last year.
After the release of this data, it has sparked widespread discussions among netizens, with many questioning the credibility of the official numbers. People generally doubt that the unemployment rate could be so low, believing that the Chinese Communist Party is using terms like “flexible employment” and “returning to hometowns for entrepreneurship” to conceal the harsh reality of high unemployment. Some netizens commented on social platforms, saying, “This year is too difficult, there are more idle people than working people. I don’t know how to survive.”
According to the Chinese Communist Party’s interpretation, “flexible employment personnel” refers to new forms of employment such as workers who rely on internet platforms for employment without establishing labor relations with new platform enterprises, individual business owners without employees, non-full-time employed personnel who are not covered by basic medical insurance provided by employers, self-employed individuals, and other flexible employment personnel. According to Chinese Communist Party experts, there are 200 million flexible employment personnel in China.
However, the Chinese people do not agree with the official explanation, believing that the so-called flexible employment personnel are actually unemployed drifters. “What a trendy name – experts are using it to make bleak employment data look better and to make statistics look more appealing. Unemployment is still unemployment, why play word games to deceive who?” one netizen said.
Chen Jin (pseudonym) from Zhengzhou, Henan Province, who is 46 years old and holds dual master’s degrees, used to be a high-income executive. But now, he jokingly refers to himself as an unemployed old bachelor.
Chen Jin told a reporter from Dajiyuan that he had tried starting his own businesses in various industries such as food and beverage, selling luggage, shoes, hats, women’s clothing, running a health spa, and an advertising company. He eventually ventured into the French cosmetics industry, which resulted in his biggest loss of over four million yuan. “After incurring losses, I worked for a while, borrowed some money to start a tax consulting firm, and lost again. I dare not venture again, so I’ve been laying low for two or three years now.”
Despite his efforts to find employment, submitting numerous resumes that went unanswered, which deeply wounded his self-esteem. He decided to stop looking for traditional employment and instead focus on small-scale investments, hoping for a chance to bounce back. He mentioned that in the current environment, it’s risky to go back to the workforce as it may lead to further unemployment.
He also expressed disbelief in the official unemployment data, stating that the actual unemployment rate is much higher. Many so-called flexible employment personnel are not counted in the unemployment numbers, and he sees himself as a prime example of this situation.
“I am unemployed, but I still have personal income declared in three companies. It doesn’t benefit me much, but it helps the companies with tax deductions. Two of them are friends’ companies where I assist, and the other is my own shell company that I haven’t closed yet and don’t want to. There may be a chance for a comeback in the future,” he said.
Zhao Yong (pseudonym) from Taizhou City, Zhejiang Province, worked as a manager in a footwear company. After the company closed down, leaving him unemployed, he recently found a job. He told a reporter from Dajiyuan, “Not finding a job feels like the sky is falling, and even getting a job feels the same because of the low wages. Here, a large number of people are unemployed, possibly tens of thousands. This area mainly produces shoes, but many factories have no orders and have not resumed production.”
In addition to “flexible employment,” the Chinese Communist Party also promotes “returning to hometowns for entrepreneurship.” State media reported that the total number of various return-to-hometown entrepreneurs in mainland China has exceeded 12 million. At the recent National People’s Congress and Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a university student representative who returned to his hometown and became successful by raising 4,000 cattle was also highlighted.
However, many netizens are skeptical of this policy, viewing it as a reflection of the deteriorating urban job market. Some question, “Forced to return home due to job loss and then labeled as ‘returning to hometown for entrepreneurship’?” Another netizen bluntly stated, “13 million people can’t find jobs. 15 million failed migrant workers return home = 15 million people returning home to start businesses.”
Li Min (pseudonym) from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, expressed to a reporter from Dajiyuan, “Do you really believe in the four words ‘returning to hometown for entrepreneurship’? Southern factories are cutting back, forcing people to go back home. The employment environment is the same everywhere. I used to work as a security guard and now deliver takeout. They say you can earn tens of millions by raising cows in a year; you just need to believe in punctuation marks.”
Chai Xing (pseudonym), a ride-hailing driver in Beijing, mentioned to a reporter from Dajiyuan that many migrant workers returned to their hometowns this year from his urban village in Beijing because it’s challenging to find jobs in the city. Many of those returning are construction workers. He questioned the Communist Party’s practice of using grandiose terms to gloss over the reality, labeling unemployment as flexible employment personnel and those failing to find jobs in the city as returning to hometown for entrepreneurship.
The Chinese Communist Party’s unemployment rate data has long been questioned by the outside world, and officials and scholars within the party system also do not believe in any official numbers.
Mr. Li, a former employee of the Hunan Provincial Statistics Bureau, said in an interview with New Tang Dynasty that based on the severe unemployment situations among his close friends and family recently, China’s actual unemployment rate is likely far over 30% to 40%.
Furthermore, Associate Professor Zhang Dandan from Peking University clearly stated in a research report in 2023 that if the approximately 16 million inactive individuals who depend on others or their families were all considered unemployed, China’s actual youth unemployment rate could be as high as 46.5%.