Shenzhen’s Resident Population Falls for First Time Since City’s Founding in 1979

A man holds a boy's hand as they walk toward a poster of Chinese former leader Deng Xiaoping in Shenzhen in southern China's Guangdong province on Nov. 8, 2018. Wang Zhao/AFP via Getty Images

China’s tech hub Shenzhen saw its population drop by 19,800, which was the first population drop since the city was established in 1979.

An economist believes that the population decline can be attributed to the harsh zero-COVID policy, China’s decoupling from the United States, and the relocation of the industrial chain, which have led to the closure of many companies, layoffs, and a rise in the unemployed population.

According to the 2022 Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin released by the Shenzhen Bureau of Statistics on May 8, the city’s resident population increased by 270,800 and its migrant population decreased by 290,600 in 2022 compared to 2021, resulting in a net decrease of 19,800 in the combined population.

Shenzhen’s resident population has been steadily growing since its establishment in 1979. In the ten years between 2010 and 2020, its resident population increased by 7.14 million.

The city of Foshan, which is about a 2-hour drive from Shenzhen, also saw a decline in its resident population in 2022. According to the Foshan Economic and Social Development Statistical Bulletin, the city’s resident population was 9,552,300 at the end of 2022 (pdf), a decrease of 60,300 compared to 9,612,600 at the end of 2021 (pdf).

The resident population in the entire Guangdong province also experienced a decrease in 2022. The provincial Statistical Bulletin for the past two years shows that the resident population of the province was 126,560,800 at the end of 2022 (pdf), a decrease of 270,000 in one year compared to 126,840,000 at the end of 2021 (pdf).

According to a large data analysis of cell phone signals in 2022, the out-migration of cell phone signals from Guangdong was greater than the inflow into the province.

Dr. Li Songyun, a Ph.D. in economics who has been closely monitoring the Chinese economy for an extended period, told The Epoch Times on May 11 that Shenzhen’s population is declining for the first time in decades, mainly because too many companies are closing down and laying off employees, leading to a rise in unemployment.

“On the one hand, this is due to the strict epidemic control imposed by the Chinese Communist Party and its crackdown on the real estate, internet, and education industries, which has led to the closure of a large number of private enterprises and layoffs, making it extremely difficult for university students to find jobs,” he said.

“On the other hand, due to the impact of China’s decoupling from the United States and the intensification of geopolitical risks, the manufacturing supply chain has begun to withdraw from China. On top of that, the shrinking external demand has caused export orders to plummet. Factories have reduced production and closed down in large numbers as a result. Foreigners were forced to leave Shenzhen if they could not find jobs there. These are the main reasons for Shenzhen’s population decline,” Li continued.

The Chinese Communist Party’s harsh zero-COVID policy, combined with geopolitical influences, resulted in a number of Shenzhen companies failing to survive 2022.

For example, at the end of August 2022, Goodway Electric Manufacturing (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., a Hong Kong-funded company with a long-standing reputation, and Fulong Electric Manufacturing (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd., finally closed down after suspending production and business. The notification from the two companies stated “there are no new orders for the company.”

Facing a significant loss of overseas orders, Shenzhen authorities urged and organized enterprises to go abroad to negotiate orders. As of mid-December 2022, nearly 1,000 Shenzhen enterprises had organized delegations to 41 major international exhibitions.

However, as of today, employment opportunities in Shenzhen continue to decline and the unemployment rate continues to rise.

Shenzhen’s 2022 Unemployment Rate Undisclosed

Shenzhen’s 2022 Statistical Bulletin did not provide information on the city’s current unemployment rate as it did in previous years.

With China’s economy in the doldrums, it is not just small and medium-sized private companies that are laying off workers, large tech companies also have to cut workforces. Shenzhen-based Tencent Holdings continued to rank No. 1 in the 2022 Hurun China Top 500, but its market capitalization fell 36 percent at the time of the ranking.

The company’s 2022 performance report (pdf), released in March, showed that it had 108,436 employees at the end of 2022, down 4,335 from 112,771 at the end of 2021. As reported by Jiemian News at the end of last year, Tencent CEO Ma Huateng re-emphasized “reducing costs and increasing efficiency” at an internal staff meeting on Dec. 15, 2022.

The issue of youth unemployment in China has also become a significant challenge. The regime’s Bureau of Statistics released employment figures in late April, saying that the unemployment rate for young people aged 16 to 24 had worsened between January and March—from 17.3 percent in January to 18.2 percent in February, rising to 19.6 percent in March. And China’s 2023 college graduates are at a record high of 11.58 million, 820,000 more than last year’s 10.76 million.

In February, Guangdong Province launched a three-year plan to mobilize young people to go to the countryside, which is seen as a relief of unemployment pressure. The three-year action plan states that by the end of 2025, a total of 100,000 young people will be organized to provide help in the countryside, and another 100,000 young people will return to their hometowns to engage in occupational practice.