China: Shrinking job market raises concerns of a destablizing economy, report

Beijing [China], February 21 : Amid the COVID-19 induced slowdown, the Chinese economy faces twin challenges of the shrinking job market and an ageing population, according to a report.
A recent survey conducted by the China Institute for Employment Research (CIER) at the Renmin University of China and job search website Zhaopin indicate that the number of jobs available per applicant among fresh university graduates in China fell to 0.88 in the fourth quarter of 2021, cited The Hong Kong Post.
The number of jobs in China declined to 12.07 million in 2020 from 12.79 million in 2019. According to the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the unemployment rate in urban areas in 2021 was as high as 14.3 per cent for people aged between 16 to 24 years.
"Big shocks due to Covid-19 and the labour market squeeze were cited as reasons for a sharp rise in unemployment in some of the regions of the country," the report stated, citing a Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) report titled "Society of China Analysis and Forecast".
The CASS report further stated that structural unemployment in the country is being caused by the ongoing exodus of foreign firms which threatens the survival of small, medium and micro-enterprises in the country.
Last Friday, the publication also noted the rising corporate debt levels in the country which has the potential to destabilise the economy. According to the Bank for International Settlements, at the end of 2020, the total debt issued to non-financial corporations in China totalled 161 per cent of the country's GDP.
According to Jianli Yang, founder and president of Citizen Power Initiatives for China, China's economic growth rate began to decline about 10 years ago. After 30 years of rapid development, a slowdown is normal, but the overlap with Xi's governance may indicate that the decline in economic growth is related to Xi's policies.