Washington, DC – Over 10 million workers have lost their jobs because of the Chinese government’s recent economic policies that led to the collapse of the real estate sector, the school tutoring industry, and the crackdown on e-commerce giants. Add to this the more than 10 million college graduates expected this summer. A record high in total number and volume of jobless compounded by China’s aging population and COVID pandemic threaten the extremely grim 2022 job market.
But the Communist regime is trying to downplay it by covering up the fudged unemployment data even in such a devastating situation. The state mouthpiece People’s Daily, on February 9, described the trend of flexible employment, that is, temporary jobs, that 200 million people, including more than 16 percent of graduates from higher education in both 2020 and 2021, use to actively conduct flexible employment. More than 1.6 million of them pursue self-media and relevant businesses.
According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), China’s unemployment rate fell by 0.5 percentage points year on year in 2021, to 5.1 percent. The surveyed employment rate among workers aged between 16 and 24 comprised 14.3 percent, while those aged between 25 and 59, representing the majority of the labor market, registered 4.4 percent. Over the year, a total of 12.69 million new urban jobs were created, registering an increase of 830,000 compared to 2020, it said, reports Xinhua news agency.
But, the employment rate of college students published by China’s National Bureau of Statistics is being hotly disputed on the campuses across the mainland. Many college students have posted their opinions on social media to expose the data as fake.
The unprecedented severe unemployment crisis took center stage and back on the agenda of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s State Council meeting on January 19. He proposed governmental work efforts to focus on policy support for more jobs and readjust its macroeconomic policies.
The Xi Jinping regime’s international status was completely reversed after Trump took office in 2017 because of the 2018 US-China trade war, the 2019 anti-extradition bill movement in Hong Kong, and the 2020 pandemic. China is experiencing an unprecedented severe employment crisis while its economy is taking a hit. The chronically ill Chinese economy finally became visible, and the true crisis could no longer be hidden after Xi came to power in 2012. China’s GDP growth rate dropped below 8 percent and continued to plunge every year.
The severe unemployment crisis is also the reason why the “six stability policy” was proposed. The “six stability policy” was proposed in July 2018 for the first time, and stabilizing employment was prioritized as Xi’s number one policy. Today, the regime has adopted strict supervisory measures and suppressed private enterprise. Foreign businesses are withdrawing, and the global industrial chain is being restructured. The incompetent regime can no longer deceive the world.
During the previous wave of unemployment, the Communist Party launched a two-year (2008-2009) economic stimulus plan and allotted 4 trillion yuan ($630 billion) for infrastructures such as railways, highways, and airports. The GDP grew 8.9 percent in the third quarter of 2009.
In the Communist regime’s history, an unstable job market has been a problem that was clearly due to the incompetence of the Party’s leadership. The recent wave of unemployment can ruin the chances of Xi Jinping, who is seeking an unprecedented third term in power this year.
