Xi Jinping Aware of Youth Discontent? "Must Endure Hardships Well"

Meeting with Communist Youth Party Leadership to Deliver Message
Chinese Authorities Closely Monitor Youth Discontent
"We Don't Accept Corona Graduates" Worst Unemployment Rate

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with young Communist Party cadres and said, "Chinese youth must be better able to endure hardships."

President Xi: "We Must Absolutely Comply with the Party's Strict Requirements"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 27th (local time), according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency and others, President Xi spoke at a meeting with the new leadership of the Communist Youth League of China (CYLC), stating, "We must unite young people around the Party to build a stronger nation."

President Xi said, "Over the past five years, the CYLC and youth have been actively involved in major initiatives such as advanced industry development, poverty alleviation, and the COVID-19 pandemic," adding, "We have witnessed the courage and dedication of Chinese youth."

He emphasized, "The CYLC must focus on strengthening the political leadership of young people," and "Youth must be prepared to endure hardships well and actively engage in the Party and the country's undertakings."

He continued, "The CYLC should lead Chinese youth to stand at the forefront of the scientific and technological revolution, rural revitalization, and national defense," stressing this point.

He also added, "We must absolutely comply with the Party's strict requirements."

The CYLC is a youth organization within the Chinese Communist Party for students and young people aged 14 to 28. Along with the Shanghai faction and the Princelings, it is considered one of the three major factions within the Chinese Communist Party. According to CYLC data, its membership numbered 73,583,000 last year.

"The 'COVID Graduates' Are Struggling"... 'Zero COVID,' 'Zero Jobs,' and 'Death Graduation Photos' Spread

Chinese university students who took 'death graduation photos.'
[Photo by Xiaohongshu capture]

President Xi's mention of enduring hardships to the youth on this day is interpreted as an awareness of the growing dissatisfaction among young people.

China's youth unemployment rate in May reached 20.8%, hitting a historic high.

One reason for youth unemployment is that many companies are excluding the so-called "COVID graduates." Recently, Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP) cited a recruitment officer from a foreign company headquartered in Shanghai, saying, "These graduates only learned remotely, so they had fewer social activities and fewer opportunities to develop teamwork and social skills through face-to-face interactions," adding, "Many employers say they would rather wait for the next batch of graduates."

In response, on Chinese social networking services (SNS), university graduates have been sharing "death graduation photos," showing themselves in graduation gowns with their faces pressed to the ground or hanging like corpses from stair railings.

Under these photos, captions read, "'Graduates pretending to be dead' are those who suffered through 'Zero COVID' throughout their studies and now face the reality of 'Zero Jobs.'"

China implemented a strict "Zero COVID" policy for over three years, drastically reducing hiring by companies. This summer, a record 11.58 million university graduates are expected to enter the job market. Additionally, 1 million "Haigui" (young people returning from studying abroad) will join the employment competition. Including those who could not enter the job market due to COVID, the threshold for employment is becoming even higher.

This is why Chinese university graduates use the term "Zero Jobs."

'Encouraged to Return to Farming, Join the Military, or Set Up Stalls,' but 'Insufficient'... Chinese Authorities Closely Monitor Youth Dissatisfaction

On the afternoon of the 22nd, the temperature in Beijing, the capital of China, exceeded 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in 9 years. The photo shows delivery drivers waiting in front of a restaurant area in Beijing amid the heat.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

In this situation, Chinese authorities are also struggling to find jobs for young people.

President Xi encouraged youth to move to rural areas in a "letter to university students."

Additionally, the People's Liberation Army announced plans to increase recruitment of new university graduates and high school students by 10% compared to previous years, and local governments in China are relaxing regulations on street vendors?previously banned due to the COVID-19 pandemic and urban aesthetics?to promote a "stall economy."

However, many voices say these measures are insufficient to alleviate the dissatisfaction of Chinese youth.

The Chinese government is closely monitoring to prevent youth dissatisfaction from erupting.

On the 27th, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that after a university graduation speech containing the message "You must have the courage to stand up to power" spread online, Chinese authorities blocked all related content.

According to the report, on the 23rd at a graduation ceremony, Ye Jingzhong, director of the School of Humanities Development at China Agricultural University, delivered a speech stating, "The power of authority can make people rigid and numb," and "Young Chinese must not lose the courage to seek truth in the face of the encirclement of power."

Although the speech did not directly criticize the Chinese Communist Party or the government, it is interpreted as a preemptive measure to avoid provoking the youth, whose dissatisfaction is accumulating.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.