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Fuck this Chinese job market.
Young people are getting absolutely fucked. No real opportunities, shit pay that barely covers rent, and you're expected to grind 996 like a dog. Overtime is mandatory, weekends are optional, and if you complain you get replaced by the next desperate grad.
Everyone's killing each other for scraps. Involution is out of control — 300 people fighting for one mediocre position, then the winner gets paid like shit and worked to death. Graduates with master's degrees delivering food or sitting on their parents' couch.
Companies treat you like disposable labor. No raises, no promotions, just more work and the constant threat of being laid off. The economy's trash, private sector is dying, and the only "stable" path is fighting millions for a government job that might not even exist by the time you get it.
It's a fucking meat grinder. Opportunity? What opportunity. Just endless competition and poverty wages.
Fuck. 8.5 million entries. That's how big China's court blacklist for unpaid debts was in early 2025.
They call them "laolai". Deadbeats. Get on that list and you can't fly, can't take a fast train, can't book a nice hotel. Your name sits on a public court website for anyone to look up.
And the line never stops. In 2025 alone, courts added people to that list 2.34 million times. In one year.
So are millions of Chinese just scumbags who love not paying? No. That's the lazy story.
Look at what's actually clogging the courts. In 2023, the #1 civil lawsuit in China wasn't divorce. It was loan contracts: 3.99 million cases. Every app on your phone wants to lend you money, and the bill ends up in court.
And here's the number nobody puts on a poster: the top court itself told lawmakers in 2018 that in about 43% of cases that reach enforcement, the debtor has literally nothing left to take. Not hiding it. Broke.
To be fair, the blacklist is supposed to be for people who CAN pay and won't. Those assholes exist, and some fake divorces to hide assets. Fuck those guys.
But the top court now says a big chunk of debtors are "honest but unfortunate": got sick and went broke, or their business died. Since 2024, more entries come off the list each year than go on.
Easy loans in. Lawsuits out. Millions of names in between.
What happens in your country when you can't pay back a loan? Can they stop you from boarding a train?
Here's what happens in China if you can't pay back those app loans.
First your credit report gets wrecked. Then the collection calls start. Then they sue you.
Lose in court and still don't pay, and a judge can hit you with a consumption ban. These are real rules from China's Supreme People's Court:
No flights.
No high-speed G trains. Not even the cheapest seat.
No sleeper berths.
No star-rated hotels.
No vacations.
No buying a home. No buying a car you don't need for work.
Your kid can't go to a pricey private school.
If the court decides you can pay but won't, you go on the public blacklist. Your name ends up on a court website for anyone to look up. People call you a "laolai", a deadbeat. And a government job? Forget it.
In 2025, courts added people to that blacklist 2.34 million times.
All this started with two taps on a phone and a "credit line" you never asked for.
Would you ride a slow train for 20 hours because you missed a loan payment?
Remember my brother? This is how it happens.
In China, you don't go to a bank to borrow money. You open Alipay. WeChat. Didi. Ctrip. Even an electronics store app.
5 apps. Each one advertises up to ¥200,000. That's ¥1 million in "limits" sitting in your phone, between your food delivery and your taxi ride.
Nobody explains the interest. Nobody asks why a 22-year-old needs ¥200,000. The button is right there.
Household consumer debt in China, excluding mortgages: ¥20.83 trillion.
My brother didn't even spend the money. A "friend" did. The apps still want it back.
Does your Uber app offer you a loan?
Part 4: the numbers behind the rant.
18% of young Chinese in the urban labor force can't find a job. Official figure, students already excluded.
Every summer a new batch of graduates hits the same wall: 14.9% in June, 18.9% in August. Same peak as last year.
Full chart here 👇
Remember my Chinese job market rant? Here's the chart.
18% of young Chinese in the urban labor force can't find a job. That's the official number, from China's own statistics bureau. And it already excludes students.
Look at the pattern. Every summer, a new wave of graduates hits the market and the line explodes. June 2026: 14.9%. August: 18.9%. Same peak as last year. Nothing got better. They just printed a new batch of graduates into the same wall.
Then it "recovers" a bit. Not because jobs appear. Because people give up, take gig work, delivery, livestream selling, or go back home and study for civil service exams again.
12 years of school. 4 years of college. Your parents' savings. And the prize is a 1-in-5 shot at sitting at home.
What's youth unemployment like where you live?
Remember my Chinese job market rant? Here's the chart.
18% of young Chinese in the urban labor force can't find a job. That's the official number, from China's own statistics bureau. And it already excludes students.
Look at the pattern. Every summer, a new wave of graduates hits the market and the line explodes. June 2026: 14.9%. August: 18.9%. Same peak as last year. Nothing got better. They just printed a new batch of graduates into the same wall.
Then it "recovers" a bit. Not because jobs appear. Because people give up, take gig work, delivery, livestream selling, or go back home and study for civil service exams again.
12 years of school. 4 years of college. Your parents' savings. And the prize is a 1-in-5 shot at sitting at home.
What's youth unemployment like where you live?
Fuck this Chinese job market.
Young people are getting absolutely fucked. No real opportunities, shit pay that barely covers rent, and you're expected to grind 996 like a dog. Overtime is mandatory, weekends are optional, and if you complain you get replaced by the next desperate grad.
Everyone's killing each other for scraps. Involution is out of control — 300 people fighting for one mediocre position, then the winner gets paid like shit and worked to death. Graduates with master's degrees delivering food or sitting on their parents' couch.
Companies treat you like disposable labor. No raises, no promotions, just more work and the constant threat of being laid off. The economy's trash, private sector is dying, and the only "stable" path is fighting millions for a government job that might not even exist by the time you get it.
It's a fucking meat grinder. Opportunity? What opportunity. Just endless competition and poverty wages.
Part 3: it's not just jobs. Even your friends will harvest you.
xitter.cf/AkZfl/status/211496275…
Fuck. My little brother just got scammed out of 15,000 yuan (about $2,000). Not by some Myanmar phone call. By a guy he'd known for years.
The pitch: Chinese shopping apps are full of crazy subsidies. Max out your credit, buy iPhones, laptops, bags at the low price, I flip them, pay you back plus a cut.
So he maxed out Douyin, Kuaishou, Huabei, JD. In China, two taps and the app throws a credit line at you like it's fattening a pig.
It worked for two years. Then it blew up overnight. Over a dozen people. More than 4 million yuan gone.
The money's gone. The debt isn't. My brother's paying off credit he never got to spend, and the apps don't give a shit.
China's police say this kind of scam is now the No. 1 fraud in the country: 25% of all online fraud cases.
Friends harvest you like leeks. Apps hook you with credit. Trust is dead. The credit limit is still there.
Ever been scammed by a "friend"?
Fuck. My little brother just got scammed out of 15,000 yuan (about $2,000). Not by some Myanmar phone call. By a guy he'd known for years.
The pitch: Chinese shopping apps are full of crazy subsidies. Max out your credit, buy iPhones, laptops, bags at the low price, I flip them, pay you back plus a cut.
So he maxed out Douyin, Kuaishou, Huabei, JD. In China, two taps and the app throws a credit line at you like it's fattening a pig.
It worked for two years. Then it blew up overnight. Over a dozen people. More than 4 million yuan gone.
The money's gone. The debt isn't. My brother's paying off credit he never got to spend, and the apps don't give a shit.
China's police say this kind of scam is now the No. 1 fraud in the country: 25% of all online fraud cases.
Friends harvest you like leeks. Apps hook you with credit. Trust is dead. The credit limit is still there.
Ever been scammed by a "friend"?
Part 2: what happens when you hit 35
xitter.cf/AkZfl/status/211471395…
You thought the Chinese job market was bad for young people? Wait till you turn 35.
Fuck. 35 in China is basically a death sentence at work.
Job posts straight up say "under 35." A study of 60 million Chinese job ads found 35 is the single most common age cutoff. Once you cross that line, your resume goes straight in the trash. It's not that you can't do the job. It's that you're expensive, you're tired, you've got a family to feed, and you're harder to squeeze. Young kids will grind 996, take shit pay, and treat themselves like consumables. The second a 35-year-old starts talking about stability, benefits, or not working weekends, the boss writes you off.
Ten years of experience, led teams, burned your whole youth at the company — and suddenly the market doesn't want you. Either you take a pay cut and do intern-level work, or you get "optimized," laid off, or "graduated." Mortgage, kids in school, and now you're unemployed and living off your parents while applications go nowhere.
Then they tell you to take the civil service exam. Today the numbers came out: 3.45 million people approved to fight for 35,700 jobs. 97 people per seat.
"Improve yourself"? Improve my ass. Government jobs are a war zone, and private companies only want cheap, fresh meat.
This isn't a midlife crisis. It's systematic age slaughter. They drain you dry, then throw you out like an expired consumable. Can't go up, can't go down. Youth sold, value zero.
You thought the Chinese job market was bad for young people? Wait till you turn 35.
Fuck. 35 in China is basically a death sentence at work.
Job posts straight up say "under 35." A study of 60 million Chinese job ads found 35 is the single most common age cutoff. Once you cross that line, your resume goes straight in the trash. It's not that you can't do the job. It's that you're expensive, you're tired, you've got a family to feed, and you're harder to squeeze. Young kids will grind 996, take shit pay, and treat themselves like consumables. The second a 35-year-old starts talking about stability, benefits, or not working weekends, the boss writes you off.
Ten years of experience, led teams, burned your whole youth at the company — and suddenly the market doesn't want you. Either you take a pay cut and do intern-level work, or you get "optimized," laid off, or "graduated." Mortgage, kids in school, and now you're unemployed and living off your parents while applications go nowhere.
Then they tell you to take the civil service exam. Today the numbers came out: 3.45 million people approved to fight for 35,700 jobs. 97 people per seat.
"Improve yourself"? Improve my ass. Government jobs are a war zone, and private companies only want cheap, fresh meat.
This isn't a midlife crisis. It's systematic age slaughter. They drain you dry, then throw you out like an expired consumable. Can't go up, can't go down. Youth sold, value zero.
Fuck this Chinese job market.
Young people are getting absolutely fucked. No real opportunities, shit pay that barely covers rent, and you're expected to grind 996 like a dog. Overtime is mandatory, weekends are optional, and if you complain you get replaced by the next desperate grad.
Everyone's killing each other for scraps. Involution is out of control — 300 people fighting for one mediocre position, then the winner gets paid like shit and worked to death. Graduates with master's degrees delivering food or sitting on their parents' couch.
Companies treat you like disposable labor. No raises, no promotions, just more work and the constant threat of being laid off. The economy's trash, private sector is dying, and the only "stable" path is fighting millions for a government job that might not even exist by the time you get it.
It's a fucking meat grinder. Opportunity? What opportunity. Just endless competition and poverty wages.
China's A-shares are a meat grinder for ordinary people.
China's GDP grew 4.5% last quarter. Since May, A-shares have wiped out $2.4 trillion.
Growth went to exports and factories. Retail sales? +1.1%.
They told you AI is the future. Here's the bill:
Unitree: 1,100 → 405. -63%.
Moore Threads, "China's Nvidia": 770 → 380. Halved.
MetaX: 1,033 → 500. Still not profitable.
CATL: 467 → 220. Halved.
The companies cashed out. Early shareholders cashed out. Retail bought the top and got buried.
So people quit. New accounts -35%. Household deposits +2.4 trillion yuan in one month.
The economy's numbers keep going up. People's lives keep going down.
A PhD from one of China’s top universities sent out 100+ applications. Got two interviews. Zero offers. That’s not bad luck. That’s the system.
12.7 million new college grads this year. Over 3 million cleared screening for the national civil service exam, fighting for 35,700 seats. 85 people per seat. Youth unemployment (16-24) at 18%. You think more degrees mean climbing up? Wrong. It’s hiding from the job market. Can’t get a job with a bachelor’s? Do a master’s. Still nothing? PhD. Now the PhDs are out and the line is longer than when they went in.
The smartest people in a country of 1.4 billion are fighting 85-to-1 for a government desk. Not because they love serving the people. Because it’s the only job that won’t fire you at 35. Private sector treats you like disposable labor. The only “stable” path is that iron rice bowl. Young people are burning their best years on exams and escape.
This isn’t ambition. This is fear. Outside you’re grinding yourself to death, inside people are just lying there collecting. Absolute despair.
I don't know who's out there every day claiming China's economy is doing great.
Here's the reality for a Chinese PhD graduate: applied to over 100 companies, only 2 gave interviews, and none hired.
Undergrads have it even worse — almost all of them are either taking the civil service exam or applying to grad school. Unemployment stays high.
Because of how information gets filtered, the rest of the world barely hears any of this.
Weekday breakfast doesn’t get simpler than this: a 6-yuan shaobing stuffed with pork tenderloin, a fried egg, and lettuce, plus a free pour-over coffee from Atour. The oil, the meat, the egg, the coffee — everything hitting at once. Instant energy for the day.
Fuck this income gap. Consumption’s split into two completely different worlds.
One side’s lining up overnight for the iPhone Duo — that stupidly expensive foldable, starting at around 16k RMB, top configs over 20k. Pre-orders hit 3 million on JD alone, sold out in under a minute across platforms, official shipping pushed to January 2027. People sleeping outside Costco two days early, scalpers flipping them for 2-3k markup. Some treat it like a toy, some treat it like status. They don’t even feel the money.
The other side’s just tightening their belts. Retail sales only grew 1.3% in the first half, people got a bit more income but won’t spend it, savings are stacking up. Cars are dead: September passenger vehicle retail was 1.618 million, down 28% year-on-year, cumulative Jan-Sep down over 20%. Home appliances sliding too — limit-above retail down 4.9% Jan-Sep, full-channel numbers even worse. Restaurants are getting slaughtered, over 600,000 stores shut in the first half, first-tier cities lost more than 10,000 each. Housing’s fucked: new home sales area down 13.2%, value down 13.9% Jan-Sep, investment dropped 20.6%. Regular people think twice about anything over 80 yuan per person for a meal, living off group-buy coupons and cheap spots, phone replacement cycles stretched to 30 months.
Some people stay up all night to grab a 10k+ phone for fun. Most people are delaying big purchases and pinching every yuan. Averages look okay, medians are lower. High earners save and invest, everyone else wants to spend but has no money. This isn’t “rational consumption.” It’s a clean split. One side flexing in queues, the other side downgrading just to get by. Absolute bullshit.