China’s unemployment rate remains high, and students are seeing a ‘degradation of academic qualifications’ in the country as a master’s degree from a top university has become the threshold for many positions.
China’s sluggish economy and strict zero-Covid policy have hit low-income earners hard, leaving them vulnerable to slipping back into poverty while undermining Beijing’s pledge to reduce income inequality.
Students from rural areas in China often struggle to afford additional costs at university, including overseas trips and extracurricular activities, which can mean they do not reach the same level or starting salaries as their urban counterparts.
Industrial production in China rose by 5 per cent in October from a year earlier, but retail sales fell by 0.5 per cent last month, data released on Tuesday showed.
China’s restrictive zero-Covid policy, property downturn and waning confidence among consumers and investors remain outsized threats to the world’s second-largest economy.