Crisis of Confidence in China’s Economy Dampens Chinese New Year

Migrant workers look for job opportunities along a roadside in Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China, on September 30, 2015. China Photos/Getty Images

News Analysis

As the Chinese New Year holiday draws near, many ordinary citizens are not in the mood to celebrate as they are losing confidence in China’s economy. Protests, workers demanding unpaid wages, and the “lying flat” movement among young people underscore the country’s economic downturn as people struggle to make ends meet.

Workers Demand Higher Wages

In a phone interview with the Chinese-language edition of The Epoch Times on Jan. 19, Zhou Hua (pseudonym), a former employee at Donglong Garment Co. in Shangqiu, Henan Province, said that her colleagues had been on strike since Jan. 16, demanding a wage increase. She also said that strikes occur frequently at the company.

Workers on strike complained on social media, saying: “We got only 1,100 yuan [about $155] in wages for 27 days of work. This is a vampire factory! We are going on strike again. There have already been three strikes in a year.”

Ms. Zhou was pregnant and had signs of a miscarriage last spring. Following the doctor’s recommendation to take time off, she presented the hospital-issued note to her company requesting a leave of absence, but it was refused. She continued to work for another month, and consequently, she had a miscarriage. She then quit her job.

“There are no other benefits other than the basic salary. The company leadership often promises various benefits, saying that if we produce a certain number of garments in a day, each of us will receive a reward of 100 yuan [about $14]. We work our hardest to meet the target, but once we achieve it, they find all sorts of excuses not to give the reward,” Ms. Zhou said.

Her monthly salary was around 2,000 yuan (about $282) at the time. To her astonishment, she discovered that the salaries of her coworkers continued to decline in the subsequent months.

According to public information, the garment company’s production line is currently the most advanced in China, with an annual output of 7 million pieces of down apparel, ranking as one of the top three among more than 4,000 similar companies nationwide in terms of production capacity. The company’s ups and downs are regarded as an industry barometer.

Similar strikes are taking place in other cities, especially export-oriented manufacturing bases.

On Jan. 16, more than a hundred workers gathered in front of Jiehong Technology Company in southern Dongguan city, Guangdong Province.

Just a day before, the company issued a notice saying that starting from Jan. 16, all employees would be put on vacation for six months, and from the second month onwards, wages would be paid at 80 percent of the employee’s local minimum wage standard.

Zhao Qiang (pseudonym), an employee of the company, told The Epoch Times that there were more than 130 people in the first group to take the “forced vacation.”

“The long leave is a way to take advantage of a loophole in the law and pay less in wages,” he said. “Last year, the company laid off several groups of workers, about 30 to 40 people in each group. The forced leave this year is a means of de facto layoffs. At least the company does not have to pay unemployment insurance.”

The company was founded in September 2007 and successfully listed on March 21, 2017, according to public information. It provides mold development and precision structural products for cell phones, tablet PCs, wearable products, and medical device parts.

Mr. Zhao’s salary has been reduced from over 6,000 yuan to 4,000 yuan (about $845 to $563). He said the fundamental reason for this situation is that foreign companies are pulling out of China and moving to Vietnam and India, which has led to a drastic reduction in orders for cell phone cases, with last year’s orders halved compared to 2022.

According to the International Institute of Finance (IIF), in the first 11 months of 2023, foreign capital withdrew as much as $78.1 billion from China’s stock and bond markets.

Mr. Zhao, who has been working in Guangdong for 10 years, said he is directly affected by foreign capital withdrawing from China on a large scale.

“I’m not optimistic about the current economic situation. All the industries are in recession,” he said.

He said that if he ever lost his current job, he would return to his hometown in Guangxi Province, where the cost of living is much lower, and find other opportunities there.

Business Closures, Unpaid Wages

On Jan. 18, with the closure of Guangdong Yong'ao Investment Group, one of China’s top 100 car dealers, the Liao Bu Auto City in Dongguan was empty, and a number of car buyers who lost money due to the unexpected closure were wandering outside the building.

The group openly admitted that it is facing operational difficulties, and the reason for store closures was a break in the capital chain, according to Chinese news reports.

Yong'ao has over 80 sales outlets, selling high-end brands such as Mercedes-Benz and Audi, mid-range and low-end brands such as Link Geely, and other commercial vehicles.

Vehicles in the warehouses and showrooms have recently been towed away overnight, employees have not been paid, and payments to suppliers have not been settled, according to the news sources.   

Moreover, the news reports claim that some buyers have paid deposits but have not received their cars, and others have picked up their vehicles but have not received the quality certificate required for car registration.

In another incident, the Hongtian International Hotel Supplies Purchasing Center in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, owed wages to migrant workers. Workers gathered outside the company on Jan. 17 to demand the payment of their salaries.

In Xining City, Qinghai Province, workers at the Shengjin Huating Phase II construction project were in arrears with wages for three years. They held up banners outside the sales department on Jan. 16 to demand wages.

‘Lying Flat’ Movement

“Lying flat” has become a popular catchphrase since 2021, as young people see no hope and no future even if they work hard. The term refers to the mentality of rejecting high-pressure jobs and opting for a simple lifestyle.

More urban youths joined the movement when China’s economy declined further in 2023. They often share tips on how to “lie flat” on social media.

This trend deeply worries the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Beijing’s propaganda organs have published multiple articles criticizing such a mentality, saying that young people should “harbor aspirations, display courage, be ready to bear hardships, and be ready to contribute selflessly.”

Wu Yong (pseudonym), 24, told The Epoch Times that he felt hopeless about his current situation.

As a teenager, he went to Jiangxi Province with a relative in 2017 to work in a woven bag factory. He said he had to work 12 hours daily, including night shifts, and the work environment was terrible.

“Even if all workers stop working for a few days, when you go into the workshop, you can see the high density of plastic dust floating in the air with your naked eyes. The workshop, built with tin sheets, gets exceptionally stuffy and hot in direct sunlight. We can hardly breathe when working inside. Every year, several elderly men doing odd jobs died from the heat.”

Mr. Wu earned around 6,000 yuan a month until he quit in 2021 and returned to his hometown.

He is now living on his savings and becoming one of the many “lie-flat” youths.

Tough Times Ahead for Ordinary Citizens

China suspended its publication of the youth unemployment rate for four months last year after reaching 21.3 percent in June. Then, in December, the statistics bureau announced a 14.9 percent unemployment rate for people aged 16 to 24, using a new method that excluded students.

However, Zhang Dandan, an associate professor of economics at Peking University, estimated that China’s youth unemployment rate reached as high as 46.5 percent in March 2023, much higher than the officially reported 19.7 percent for that month.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Li Hengqing, a U.S.-based economist, said that unemployment rate statistics have become a tool to deceive and mislead the general public in China.

The CCP may have gained an immediate and short-term so-called stabilization by faking the data, but in the long run, it is an even greater danger for the CCP, he said.

According to Mr. Li, the three primary drivers of China’s economy—exports, consumption, and investment, which contribute the most to the country’s GDP—have stagnated in 2023. Still, the CCP has always painted a rosy picture for the future of China’s economy, which is nothing more than fooling the Chinese people, he said.

He believes that China’s economic slump will deepen in 2024. In particular, the property sector will collapse even faster, as more real estate debts will have to be repaid this year, especially the large amount of offshore debts.

“Defaults will undoubtedly hit at a faster pace and on a larger scale. As a result, life will grow increasingly harsh for the general populace in 2024,” Mr. Li said.