In China, the economy is slowing down and more people are losing their jobs amid the backdrop of the trade war between China and the United States. This year, a record number of university graduates are about to step out of the school gates, and Chinese leader Xi Jinping recently called on young people to “go to the countryside,” sparking attention. Observers believe that Xi Jinping’s push for young people to “go to the countryside” is aimed at political stability, while also masking the urban employment challenges. However, this movement is likely to end in failure, as the youth may rise up in opposition as the economy continues to deteriorate.
On May 4th, which is China’s “Youth Day,” the official Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece, People’s Daily, reported on its front page that Xi Jinping responded to a young volunteer teaching at a minority ethnic group school in Xinjiang, expressing his hope that more young people will go to rural areas to serve and shine in the “most needed places.”
In recent years, the youth unemployment rate in mainland China has been continuously rising, and Xi Jinping has repeatedly called for young people to return to rural areas. For example, on May 3, 2023, Xi encouraged young people to enter the rural areas and to “experience hardship” in a letter to university students.
Official Chinese media has also been advocating for “going to the mountains and countryside.” On December 22, 2020, the Chinese Communist Party Historical Research Institute claimed that “sending educated youth to the countryside was a great feat to promote social progress,” openly vindicating the “Going to the Mountains and Countryside” movement launched by the CCP during the Mao Zedong era. The government has arranged for young people to go to rural areas to engage in grassroots work through various channels, such as the Guangdong Province government suggesting sending 300,000 jobless young people to rural areas for work.
However, these official actions have raised questions among some people and have revived painful memories among older generations of the forced “Going to the Mountains and Countryside” campaign imposed by the CCP in the 1950s.
Starting in the 1950s, Mao Zedong launched the “Going to the Mountains and Countryside” movement as a means to disperse the large number of unemployed youth in Chinese cities and eliminate the threat of instability they posed to CCP rule, sending tens of millions of urban youth to rural areas and leading to a generation of tragic lives. Most of the youth sent to rural areas became hard laborers, enduring hardships, political persecution, a lack of cultural activities, and disillusionment with their ideals.
In 2023, the youth unemployment rate for those aged 16-24 in China exceeded 20%, and after the official “suspension of data release,” a new lower unemployment rate was published in early 2024 using a different calculation method, seen as a way to cover up the reality of high unemployment. Research by Zhang Dandan, a scholar from Peking University, indicates that the youth unemployment rate in China could be as high as 46.5% in 2023.
With the United States imposing tariffs on China, orders for Chinese exports have plummeted, leading to reports of foreign trade factories shutting down in various regions, with many of the unemployed being young people. A surge of individuals, mostly young, setting up street stalls – dubbed by officials as “flexible employment” – has been observed on mainland Chinese social media.
This year, there are 12.22 million college graduates in China, breaking historical records. In April, it was reported that China National Nuclear Corporation recruited 8,000 people for spring campus recruitment, receiving nearly 1.2 million resumes, sparking discussions online. Netizens lament that 2025 may be the most difficult year to find a job.
Renowned Chinese-Canadian writer Sheng Xue told Epoch Times that a large number of unemployed youth gathering in cities is seen by the Chinese government as a potential threat to its regime. Xi Jinping’s promotion of “youth going to the countryside” is essentially a political retreat under the governance dilemma, using methods reminiscent of the Mao era to address today’s political and economic crisis.
Sheng Xue analyzed that while the authorities are aiming for political stability and masking urban employment challenges, pushing young people to the countryside is about “disperse, absorb, and isolate” potentially unstable elements. Xi emphasizes “tempering,” “patriotic sentiments,” and “dedication,” essentially aiming to make the youth submissive to the CCP’s rule. The CCP’s emphasis on “border defense” and “ethnic unity” is part of strengthening control over border areas and grassroots levels.
Independent commentator Cai Shunkun told Epoch Times that with China’s exports facing comprehensive blockades, domestic demand not picking up, and college graduates facing unemployment, the authorities have no choice but to resort to sending young people to rural areas. However, this is merely a temporary measure.
“Back when Mao Zedong initiated the grand ‘Going to the Mountains and Countryside’ movement, it quickly ended in failure. Xi Jinping’s encouragement for young people to go to the countryside is also likely to be a failed project, just like almost all of his interventions over the past decade have ended in failure, so it is unlikely to have a positive outcome.”
Cai Shunkun also believes that it is important to note that if Xi Jinping does not take a historical step backward, avoid confrontation with the rest of the world, and deviate from Mao Zedong’s path, China’s economy would not face such significant issues.
Cai Shunkun believes that even if there are no changes during Xi Jinping’s era, significant changes will occur in China after he passes away.
According to Sheng Xue, the CCP’s placement of youth in grassroots positions temporarily shifts the focus away from the unemployment issue but does not address the root causes of structural unemployment in China. Moreover, rural areas lack development platforms, which could lead to new social discontent in the future, continuing to threaten the CCP’s regime.
She pointed out that Chinese youth currently appear to be in a state of passivity and fear, entering a “lying flat” state. However, as the Chinese economy further deteriorates, increasing survival pressures and oppression may breed youth resistance and desperate efforts. If the awakening population is significant enough, it could spark a new social movement. This would require collaboration from lower-class citizens, the working class, intellectuals, individuals with a conscience within the system, as well as external forces and the international community to end the tyranny of the CCP.